We Tried 9 of the Best Toothbrushes for Kids — Here Are Our Favorites
Like a lot of young children, my 5-year-old, Louisa, doesn’t do well at the dentist’s office once the electric brush comes out. Last time we were in for a visit, our wonderful, patient dentist recommended getting her started with an electric brush at home to make things less scary when she comes in for a cleaning.
I picked up a few cheapies here and there to try, hoping the cartoon characters on the brush would be enough to entice her, but she didn’t want anything to do with them because they were all very loud — which can be pretty scary to young kids.
Hoping to find the perfect option, we tested out 9 of the top-performing brushes out there for kids, including manual brushes (we like sending one of those with her to school). Here are the three kids’ toothbrushes that worked the best for us.
The 3 Best Kids’ Toothbrushes
Electric: Both of these have bristles that work by vibration, rather than complete rotation, which can be too noisy for small children.
Manual: The Greenzia bamboo brush is eco-friendly and at $12.99 for a pack of six, you can’t go wrong with the price.
Specifications:
- Electric or Manual: Electric
- When to replace brush heads: Every three months
- Charger or battery powered: Charger
What Louisa Thinks
First and foremost, the AutoBrush looks like a toy. I can tell she likes it because it’s a completely different toothbrushing experience. She actually listens to the music while brushing, and I think she’s okay with the noise level because the sound quality is good — it doesn’t sound like it’s being played from a tin can, like most kids’ products.
What I Think
The thing I like most about this brush is that it’s not intimidating in any way. The sound is a very quiet vibration, and you can choose to turn the music off, so all you hear is a soothing “hum”, as opposed to a loud “buzz” from a traditional rotating brush.
The mouthpiece brush head isn’t made from traditional nylon bristles, instead it’s soft silicone, which is safe for gums and super easy to clean. We tried this toothbrush first, and I’ve seen how it’s helped make her so much more comfortable with the buzzing and humming of an electric brush that can sometimes be jarring to little ones.
Specifications:
- Electric or Manual: Electric
- When to replace brush heads: Every three months
- Charger or battery powered: Battery
What Louisa Thinks
Like the AutoBrush, this brush is very quiet so that scored big points with her. She also likes that the brush fits into the sleek little cup that you can stick to your mirror.
What I Think
This is definitely the best bang for your buck. The design is lightweight and super sleek, which makes it so good for traveling. It has a little adhesive strip on the back of the holder that can be stuck and re-stuck to a clean, shiny surface which means you don’t have to take up precious counter space and an outlet to charge the brush. The refills are a piddly little $5 every 3 months, and come with a free battery. And lastly, it does the job — my daughter was able to hold it in her little hand and could easily operate the on-off button.
Specifications:
- Electric or Manual: Manual
- When to replace brush heads: Every three months
What Louisa Thinks
She loved being able to choose a color, and she liked that it was made from bamboo. For a manual brush, it’s pretty fun!
What I Think
For $12.99 you’re set for 18 months with biodegradable, compostable and organic charcoal wooden toothbrushes. These brushes are thrifty, don’t require much thought after the initial purchase, and are so much better for the environment than having to toss a plastic brush into the landfill every three months. They’ve very cute, too, and by now you should know we’re suckers for good design!
Other Brushes We Tried
In our research, we also tried four more electric toothbrushes and two manual, including:
Overall, we encountered a few common problems:
- Too loud. The electric toothbrushes with rotating bristles were just too noisy. We preferred the vibrating heads for a gentler hum.
- Too big. A few options were just too big — the head, the handle, or both — for little fingers and little mouths.
- Too difficult to use. If Louisa couldn’t use the brush without adult supervision, it was a step backward for us. I also rejected one that involved Louisa taking over my phone in the bathroom every morning.