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Colgate's latest AI-powered smart toothbrush starts at $50
Called “hum by Colgate,” it’s a smart toothbrush that’s more affordable. In general, smart toothbrushes aren’t necessarily better than regular run-of-the-mill electric toothbrushes.
Colgate's Plaqless Pro tells you how clean your teeth are in real time
Healthcare devices that hook up to your smartphone are a big part of CES these days, and the oral care market is certainly in on the trend. Oral-B already announced its latest high-end toothbrush, and Colgate has its own unique take on improving your brushing experience. The Plaqless Pro smart electric toothbrush can, of course, connect to your phone with Bluetooth, but the real trick of note here is a tiny embedded sensor that can detect plaque buildup in your mouth as you brush. That's communicated back to you by a light ring that turns blue when plaque is detected and turns white when the area is clear. Colgate representatives said the sensor is able to detect this on the individual tooth level.
The best electric toothbrush
By Casey Johnston, Tracy Vence and Shannon Palus This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, Wirecutter and Engadget may earn affiliate commission. Read the full electric toothbrush guide here. (image-01) To find the best electric toothbrush, we put in almost 100 total hours of research, interviewing experts, evaluating every model on the market, and testing 12 toothbrushes ourselves in hundreds of trials at the bathroom sink. We found that the best toothbrush for most people is a simple model called the Oral-B Pro 1000. It has the fewest fancy features of the models we tested, but it does have the most important things experts recommend—a built-in two-minute timer and access to one of the most extensive and affordable lines of replaceable toothbrush heads available—for the lowest price. That, according to the experts we spoke to, is as much as an electric toothbrush can or should do for you. The extras available in electric toothbrushes that cost $150 more don't make them any more effective than the Pro 1000. The Oral-B Pro 1000 brush comes with a minimal charging pedestal that simply requires dropping the brush onto a peg. Fully charged, it lasts for at least a week of twice-daily two-minute brushing sessions before needing a recharge, which is on a par with the other toothbrushes we tested in this price range and plenty for most people. If you can't find the Oral-B Pro 1000, get the runner-up, the Philips Sonicare 2 Series. Like the Pro 1000, the 2 Series is not trumped up with unproven features and includes everything you need in an electric toothbrush. The 2 Series runs much more quietly, but unlike the Pro 1000, it comes to a full stop after two minutes of brushing (rather than restarting the cycle as the Pro 1000 does) and has a less diverse, more expensive range of brush heads, giving you fewer options for texture and shape. If a subscription service will help you replace your brush heads regularly, Goby has all the features we look for in a brush: a 30-second quadrant timer that stops after two minutes and a rechargeable battery. The Goby has only one type of brush head available (rotating), so if you like to customize your brush this service may not be for you.
