Does the humble electric toothbrush need taking into the digital age? Well, Oral-B have launched their new GENIUS 9000 Toothbrush to demonstrate exactly what this new generation of sophistication should look like. It features Bluetooth connectivity with an App to monitor your brushing, real-time visual coaching via an LED Smart Ring, and even makes use of your smartphone's camera when equipped to your mirror for position detection of exactly how you’re brushing. So, does it provide usefulness for £279 or is it a bit of an expensive faff?

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Design & Accessories

Available in rose gold (Boots exclusive) or black and white - the colour of ours. The Oral-B GENIUS 9000 looks very smart and feels like a hardier build when compared to brushes of similar aesthetics like the Oral-B Pro 650. The GENIUS 9000 has a number of LED illuminated symbols to represent the mode enabled and showing the power and mode toggle button. Notable is the LED Smart Ring around the top portion of the body that can be customised to display a choice of 12 colours. 

A smart travel case is bundled with the brush and is one of our favourite pieces of the package that definitely lives up to its name. Importantly it’s a strong case that stays shut thanks to a button release mechanism - so it’s a perfect carry solution within your luggage. Furthermore it has storage for 2 extra brush heads, charges the brush within the case and has a USB port to charge your smartphone all from one outlet. Also found in the box is a traditional bedside Oral-B charging station, smartphone hold suction cup and 4 brush heads; including CrossAction, FlossAction, Sensitive and 3DWhite.

The Oral-B App

A well designed App from Oral-B, available on the Android Play Store and iOS App Store, connects to the brush via Bluetooth 4.0 instantly. The much anticipated magic happens when you equip a smartphone onto a mirror with the universal suction cup - which fits our larger iPhone 7 Plus thanks to a spring loaded bracket. Here Oral-B present in-depth tracking analysis, via the phone's camera, of exactly where you're brushing and it tells you when it thinks you’re finished, regardless of whether the ritual of 2 minutes total target brushing time is surpassed. A byproduct of this is that we focus in on brushing each tooth individually, so we’re now unquestionably more meticulous - which should certainly please our dentist. Whilst the tracking isn't always entirely accurate and we don’t bother with the Position Detection or even sync to the App (the brush remembers 20 sessions) every time - by simply using it a few times a week we’re achieving 5 stars from Position Detection in 2 minutes now! Plus the App displays the news, weather and calendar events as you brush.

All your data is stored within the App’s activity log shown within a calendar format. The key pieces of info consist of total brushing time and how long you have brushed with too much pressure. It was quite apparent from the get-go that we had a habit of brushing unknowingly too hard and thus accumulating minutes of too much pressure from weeks of brushing, so we have now eased off with helpful guidance from the LED Smart Ring. It will flash red to alert and temporally drop the power of the brush into sensitive mode so you don't damage your gums. The App also keeps a log of flossing, mouthwash regularity and whether you’ve cleaned your tongue. We’ve even been accumulating achievements for our ongoing efforts - it’s strangely rewarding! 

Cleaning Performance

Crucially all the extras and App functionality would go to utter waste if the Oral-B GENIUS 9000 toothbrush wasn’t able to deliver a deep clean. Reassuringly this is evidently the main area of focus for Oral B, with a great choice of circular heads to try out - CrossAction and 3DWhite heads being firm favourites. Modes consist of a regular Daily Clean, a more impactful Pro Clean, Sensitive, Whitening, Massaging and a Tongue Cleaner. Typically we stick with Daily Clean for most sessions, but if one evening there has been a little too much ingestion of sugary treats, a Pro Clean would be called upon. Compared to previous Oral B brushes, like the excellent super-thin Pulsonic model or the heavy weights from their Pro line, the GENIUS 9000 delivers what feels like a deeper clean from its oscillating, rotating and pulsating collaboration. The App and Oral-B toothbrush partnership is wholly insightful and we feel that our gums, teeth and tongue are all benefiting. We put a lot of this down to it genuinely stopping you from making costly mistakes by missing out specific zones over and over again. Additionally the tongue cleaning mode is one that doesn’t induce a violent gag reflex when cleaning towards the back of the tongue, making it a firm part of every brushing cycle and not just an occasional chore. Lastly we can report that the Lithium Ion battery runs dry in 8 days with an average time of 2.38 minutes of brushing per session twice a day.

Verdict

Using the new-age Oral-B GENIUS 9000 toothbrush is a bit like having your dentist standing next to you offering advice every time you brush your teeth. Having a top of the line powerful toothbrush, with your desired head attached, doesn’t mean anything if you’re using it incorrectly. That’s the whole point of this product; it encourages, informs and improves dental hygiene with an App - and we like it a lot! Buy on Amazon