From hallway jets to ‘pregnant' toothbrushes: my chaotic water flosser showdown

The Guardian

4 hours ago

Cats and teeth. That's my contribution to the Filter so far, writing recommendations for new cat owners and electric toothbrushes. Rather than combining the two in a piece on cat toothpaste, I'm instead doubling down on the latter, writing about the wonderful world of water flossers.
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Water flossers, for those that don't know, are exactly what they sound like. Rather than sticking a bit of dental floss or an interdental brush between your teeth and along your gums, the idea is that you can instead fire a jet of water. It's more convenient and saves you the embarrassment of seeing what grim detritus you've been hoarding between your teeth each day.
Are they as effective as regular flossing? 'Probably not' was the consensus I got from the dental experts I spoke to, but it's also an improvement on nothing, which is, lamentably, what most of us are doing now.
'In terms of plaque removal, flossing and interdental brushes will be better,' Dr Sam Jethwa, president of the British Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, told me. 'The example I give patients is a boat sitting in a dock for a long time – it's got algae on the bottom. Get a hose pipe to try to get it off, it's not going to do anything. You need the water, but you need the mechanical movement there.' I'm pleased to report that my mouth isn't full of algae, and I certainly felt some benefit from my time water flossing, even if it had its limits.
The cordless models look like pregnant toothbrushes – although sadly this isn't where baby toothbrushes come from. Rather, the distended lower section is designed to be filled with between 150ml and 400ml of water that can then be fired at your unsuspecting teeth and gums.
After collecting machines from the likes of Oral-B, Panasonic, WaterPik and Philips, and lining them up along my sink like a tiny police identity parade, I set to work devising how to test a group of products that, on the surface of things, are very similar indeed.
For starters, some manufacturers list water pressure in PSI, which is pounds per square inch. Others, however, don't bother with this nerdy nonsense, leading you to guess against the ones that do.
One messy (but not especially scientific, given their different heights and jet angles) test saw me firing water from them down the hallway and measuring their reach. My other half had the unenviable job of following the jets down the hallway with a towel, shouting out the measurements like a darts caller, while I tapped the figures into my somehow still dry laptop.
The water tank test was far more civilised, if not as fun. This involved filling the tanks from the tap before decanting the contents back into a measuring cup to see if the declared specs were accurate. Some were a little optimistic, while others understated how much water you could get in there.
Other metrics are obvious as soon as you open the box, like how easy they are to hold and manipulate, and how many tips are supplied. The standard jet head is consistent between them all, but others are designed with orthodontics and periodontal pockets in mind.
But there's plenty that's subjective too. For example, one model was marked down because you need to hold down a button to stop and start the water flow. That's a very sensible design for a travel-safe flosser, saving you a suspiciously vibrating suitcase that could be detonated by overzealous airline staff, but less positive when your mouth is rapidly filling with water and you need to cut the power quickly.
My personal favourite model, meanwhile, isn't the most powerful, and nor is it practical for those without much space, given it plugs directly into the bathroom mains. But its handle is light and easy to manoeuvre, and it offers 10 pressure levels to make it the most flexible of the bunch.
Towards the end of my testing, I had a long-scheduled dental hygienist appointment where, for once, I could proudly say that I had not just been flossing daily, but multiple times an hour. While a psychologist could undoubtedly take issue with that, surely no dentist would?
Sadly, I wasn't asked, but nor was I given a mortifying critique on my dental hygiene. So I'm calling that a very small win, and an unspoken go-ahead to keep jet washing my teeth and gums. Albeit not as regularly, now the testing period is – thankfully – over.
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Monica HorridgeDeputy editor, the Filter
It's been the hottest, sunniest spring on record in the UK, with the risk of a drought this summer. So, in our age of climate crisis and heightened awareness of water consumption, an immaculate, well-watered lawn is becoming increasingly taboo.
But you don't need to ditch the lawn altogether, wrote Matt Collins last month. Provided we take a more sustainable approach to their upkeep, embracing beneficial 'weeds' and leaving areas of long grass, reducing our lawns' size, and mowing less often, they can still have a place in our gardens. And while you're at it, sow some native British wildflowers to encourage more pollinators and boost biodiversity: social enterprise Pollenize's seed packet contains grass – as well as wildflower seeds.
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