The Ionic ProClean Toothbrush uses the principal of changing polarity of your tooth’s enamel to make removing plaque easier while brushing.
Ease of Use: 20/25
Performance: 10/25
Appearance/Design 22/25
How much I enjoy 5/25
Total: 57/100
The Ionic ProClean Toothbrush uses ions to clean plaque off your teeth in a controversial and in my opinion skeptical process that is supposed to easily and effortlessly remove the plaque. Cleaning teeth with a normal toothbrush simply scrubs off the plague and other bad stuff while an ionic toothbrush uses changing polarity to make plague slide off your teeth.
The Ionic Toothbrush has a small metal dot near the bristles and a metal plate in the handle that is part of the inner workings of the toothbrush. The concept is that the battery inside the handle feeds the two metal plates and water or other liquid, yes saliva, makes contact between the two metal plates through your hand that is holding the toothbrush to create the negative charge.
The concept is a solid one if things all work well but studies do not really agree whether it works or not, I found several studies that seem to be making their point. The studies I found that are highly cited on websites selling ionic toothbrushes of course say that they work while some of the studies I found do not.
This is one thing I looked for when reviewing this product and found that studies that agree that these types of toothbrushes work are found at the sites that sell them. I even found a few websites that have these studies as well as the site highly recommending the one brand of toothbrush that seems to have ties to that site.
The Ionic ProClean Toothbrush does have a dentist, Dr. Scott Fine D.D.S. of New York, to plug their product but every ionic toothbrush has one as well. The dentist says they work and they have studies to prove it but I also found a few studies that show no conclusive evidence that an ionic toothbrush does anything above and beyond a regular toothbrush.
Two studies I did find that are certainly not associated with any toothbrush company does state they found no evidence that ionic toothbrushes work as they claim.
One article says there is no significant difference in regular and ionic toothbrush use and is cited in the American Journal of Dentistry.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5573836_A_clinical_trial_testing_the_efficacy_of_an_ionic_toothbrush_for_reducing_plaque_and_gingivitis
Another study I found says an active ionic toothbrush did make a significant difference in removing plaque but I suspect this kind of study as it was sponsored by a company that sells ionic toothbrushes.
http://www.ijdr.in/article.asp?issn=0970-9290;year=2006;volume=17;issue=2;spage=74;epage=7;aulast=Deshmukh
I think my point here is that when individual doctors and studies cannot agree on whether a device to clean teeth works or doesn’t work there is some controversy. The American Dental Association also does not recognize any ionic toothbrush as a proven way to clean teeth.
Ionic toothbrushes are not approved or has received the Seal of Approval from the ADA, “Look for the ADA Seal-your assurance that the product has been objectively evaluated for safety and effectiveness by an independent body of scientific experts, the ADA Council on Scientific Affairs.” from the American Dental Association website.
I could not find any body or group of dentists like the American Dental Association that could agree that ionic toothbrush use does remove more plaque or is a better way to brush teeth. While this is not a factor as to whether the ionic toothbrush works or does not I find it a convincing omission that the ADA does not have anything to say about ionic toothbrushes on their site.
Another factor that leads me to believe that ionic toothbrushes may not work as well as some of these dentists claim is the fact that they do not use them at their workplace. Many dentists use manual processes like scraping and brushing with simple scraper tools and air driven rotary toothbrushes without ionic processes to aid in plaque removal. So if ionic toothbrushes worked so well why don’t they use them at dental offices?
People on reviews and sites that talk about the ionic toothbrush sometimes say they work and others say they could not tell the difference but I tend to believe in scientific evidence over opinion when it comes to something like removing plaque. Personally I could not tell one way or the other if the toothbrush worked any better than my regular toothbrush I usually buy.
I think one factor in people thinking they work is the fact that they are using a brand new tooth brush over the used one they have been using which will clean a bit better. I find that when I change to a new toothbrush it works a bit better when its brand new over the used one I just threw away or relegated to scrubbing uses around the house.
I used the Ionic ProClean Toothbrush for a couple of months and could not tell any difference in my plaque removal, I had clean teeth just like brushing my teeth as I have been all my life. I am just not convinced the ionic toothbrush does any more than a regular toothbrush and found it brushed my teeth just fine as any toothbrush I have bought does.
The Ionic ProClean toothbrush might only get your teeth as clean as a regular toothbrush as not many studies can agree that ionic toothbrush use does anything different than regular brushing. I personally think a new toothbrush every few months and a little squirt of toothpaste to scrub that plaque off works the best for brushing.
Regular dental visits, brushing two or three times a day and flossing also does a lot to get rid of plaque and other bad stuff in your mouth.
