Metal Mouth Message Board

Does anyone have a recommendation for a Waterpik? There are so many brands and styles to choose from. While reading about them I read that they can be used INSTEAD of flossing with braces. Since this is written by the people selling them I will still plan to use it to supplement cleaning and flossing unless I learn otherwise. Has anyone had experience with this or heard this from an ortho? Seems too good to be true...

For home use, the Waterpik Ultra is great; you can order it from Amazon for less than the drugstore, if you can stand to wait for it to arrive.

For away-from-home use, I think the Pana-sonic is the best bet. I have one of those at work, and another in my in-car kit.

No, it is not a flossing replacement. I suppose if somebody otherwise won't floss at all, it's better than nothing, but otherwise your primary use for it should be to blast the really chunky stuff off your brackets and wire. I also use mine to give the space between my molar bands and gums a little extra TLC.

I got the WP-100 I believe - very impressed not only with the power and what it can do but also with the compact nature of the unit: we have a very small bathroom sink area so I needed something that wouldn't take up too much space. I think I paid about $50 for mine - got it from Target.

You definitely do not want to stop flossing. Once you floss, then water pik you'll feel a difference. Just using the water pik doesn't clean the gum line between the teeth very well.
I have the RediBreeze from dentakit.com and love it. Our previous base housing didn't have room in the bathrooms for the WaterPik tank. The RediBreeze connects right to the faucet, and you control the spray. They have cordless waterpiks too, which a lot people find handy when they're out to eat, or at work.

I've seen something called an airfloss, anyone got one of these?

My main requirement is to have something portable as I do a lot of travelling and staying away, what's good on the move?

Thanks for everything so far and thanks bebop for reminding me that I saw a fairly new kind online that is water and air combined. It only uses a coupe of spoons full of water which made me wonder but had some good reviews. I think it may be an oral b product.

I am using the Waterpik for kids countertop model. It came in a really awesome lime green color, and seems to be the same psi as the grownups portable model I had before.

I use it instead of flossing, and my ortho always comments on how clean I keep my teeth and braces. If I floss THEN use the waterpik, bits of food still come out. That's why I think it's actually better than flossing. Definitely make sure you are using the orthodontic tip which has some fuzzy fibers for cleaning your brackets, and don't skimp. Give each tooth about 2-3 seconds of quality waterpik time, and you should be very clean indeed.

scully wrote:I use it instead of flossing, and my ortho always comments on how clean I keep my teeth and braces. If I floss THEN use the waterpik, bits of food still come out. That's why I think it's actually better than flossing. Definitely make sure you are using the orthodontic tip which has some fuzzy fibers for cleaning your brackets, and don't skimp. Give each tooth about 2-3 seconds of quality waterpik time, and you should be very clean indeed.

The purpose of floss isn't to work Mass Chunky Bits (hereafter referred to as MCB's) out from underneath your brackets, archwire, and from between your teeth. It is indeed quite poor at it, being essentially a brush with a single bristle when used for that purpose. MCB's are more properly removed with water and/or brushing. It doesn't surprise me that if you floss first thing, you still have MCB's left over. The waterpik is spectacular in blasting those things off of your brackets, teeth, and even inter-tooth spaces.

The point of flossing, and why it's so important, is to remove the thin, invisible, plaque film that forms in the spaces between your teeth and just underneath your gumline. Brushing can't reach it, and you shouldn't trust the WaterPik to remove it.

sirwired wrote: For away-from-home use, I think the Pana-sonic is the best bet. I have one of those at work, and another in my in-car kit.

Hello sirwired - What Pana-sonic would you recommend? I am after one for being away etc. And would probably extend to home use as well rather than having multiples.
Thanks...

Beebop wrote:

sirwired wrote: For away-from-home use, I think the Pana-sonic is the best bet. I have one of those at work, and another in my in-car kit.

Hello sirwired - What Pana-sonic would you recommend? I am after one for being away etc. And would probably extend to home use as well rather than having multiples.
Thanks...

i need this info as well. look forward to the responses.

I use the Pana-Sonic EW-DJ10-A for travel use. It's currently sold at $30 at Amazon, but it goes on sale intermittently for less. I suppose you could use it at home, but the tank is portable-sized (a decent size for a portable, but still not that big), there are only two speeds, and it uses AA batteries (good for about 30 uses or so... I use NiMH rechargables in the one I have at the office.) And if you don't let it air out all the time, you'll need to periodically flush the whole thing with hot soapy water to keep it from "souring".

Really, the countertop WaterPik is a better unit for your morning, evening, and night use, despite the fact you'll have to buy a separate portable.

sirwired wrote:I use the Pana-Sonic EW-DJ10-A for travel use. It's currently sold at $30 at Amazon, but it goes on sale intermittently for less. I suppose you could use it at home, but the tank is portable-sized (a decent size for a portable, but still not that big), there are only two speeds, and it uses AA batteries (good for about 30 uses or so... I use NiMH rechargables in the one I have at the office.) And if you don't let it air out all the time, you'll need to periodically flush the whole thing with hot soapy water to keep it from "souring".

Really, the countertop WaterPik is a better unit for your morning, evening, and night use, despite the fact you'll have to buy a separate portable.

Thank you for the info - the DJ10 seems to get good reviews, so I'll grab one of these to start with and then go from there...

I love my Waterpik!

sirwired wrote:I use the Pana-Sonic EW-DJ10-A for travel use. It's currently sold at $30 at Amazon, but it goes on sale intermittently for less. I suppose you could use it at home, but the tank is portable-sized (a decent size for a portable, but still not that big), there are only two speeds, and it uses AA batteries (good for about 30 uses or so... I use NiMH rechargables in the one I have at the office.) And if you don't let it air out all the time, you'll need to periodically flush the whole thing with hot soapy water to keep it from "souring".

Really, the countertop WaterPik is a better unit for your morning, evening, and night use, despite the fact you'll have to buy a separate portable.

i have just checked amazon.co.uk and the dj10 is £41.91. is this a reasonable price?

kellyb wrote:

sirwired wrote:I use the Pana-Sonic EW-DJ10-A for travel use. It's currently sold at $30 at Amazon, but it goes on sale intermittently for less. I suppose you could use it at home, but the tank is portable-sized (a decent size for a portable, but still not that big), there are only two speeds, and it uses AA batteries (good for about 30 uses or so... I use NiMH rechargables in the one I have at the office.) And if you don't let it air out all the time, you'll need to periodically flush the whole thing with hot soapy water to keep it from "souring".

Really, the countertop WaterPik is a better unit for your morning, evening, and night use, despite the fact you'll have to buy a separate portable.

i have just checked amazon.co.uk and the dj10 is £41.91. is this a reasonable price?

Ouch! That seems brutal! Especially for something that doesn't need a UK-unique version! Will Amazon US ship it to you for less?