When we attended the launch of the the new Genius toothbrush from Oral-B we were hesitant to smile. A room of dental professionals and experts made it a slightly intimidating experience. Dental hygiene is a major issue not just globally but in Australia particularly. A smile exposes you and leaves you with no where to hide. A good smile is a result of a good cleaning regimen.
The Genius has a number of bits in the box. Firstly, the toothbrush itself. It’s lighter than previous models and feels better in the hand, a much better balance of weight. Sexy in black and with LED indicators for each brushing style and battery indication. The ring around the top which was once just for indicating excess pressure is also for personalisation, change the colour to suit your personality. The toothbrush hasn’t been improved just by aesthetics but also by performance. It’s now the most powerful brush on the market, it’ll spin, pulse and destroy any gunk in your teeth within seconds. One other noticeable improvement on any toothbrush is that the Genius has 12 days of battery life. Power and efficiency is a great find when it comes to dental hygiene.
The previous model from Oral-B had bluetooth and a companion smartphone app. The Genius is no exception. The Genius uses the app to a whole other level though and it brings in the other accessory in the box… a phone holder. Yep, the Oral-B Genius kit will have you standing in front of your bathroom mirror with your phone facing you… watching you. The phone is watching you to move beyond the two minute timer for total brushing time. The phone uses the front facing camera to make sure you spend enough time in each quadrant of your mouth, brushing all your teeth and not spending two minutes brushing one tooth. This part is rather genius and works remarkably well. Oral-B used statistics to prove this feature was required as we humans struggle to brush properly. After brushing with the app watching we know we had a better clean than normal which meant we certainly weren’t applying enough time/coverage in the past.
Digging into the box further you’ll find the toothbrush case. The case is premium in quality and looks good too. It has a fantastic new feature too. Charging your toothbrush in the case is possible when connected to a powerpoint, plug your phone into the case too, thanks to a USB port, and now you’re charging your phone and toothbrush at once. Fantastic for when you’re travelling, kinda genius.
To put a name like Genius next to any product is a courageous thing to do. It really needs to be. The Oral-B Genius is the smartest toothbrush we’ve ever seen or heard of. The question is whether or not you need one this smart. We know from real data that an electric toothbrush is going to perform better than a manual one, but you don’t have to spend $369 on this one to have an electric toothbrush. If however your dentist winces when they look into your mouth or you just know that your brushing needs help, then the Genius is going to be your brush coach, it will help you all the way to your best smile yet.
