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Comment by charles_f | Hacker News Reader

Yeah but if you could reset the head instead of having to change it, imagine the savings

I have this brush and would highly encourage you to swap the head when the brush asks you to do so, for the sake of your dental health.

I have it as well and at this point used the same head for 5 months. There's no visible deterioration and I exceed the recommended brushing time by doing 5 instead of 3 minutes. Why exactly is the head only good for 3 months?

Brushing your teeth for too long can have bad effects on your dental health[1][2]. The heads loose their strength over time and if you replace that with pushing harder, you might also overbrush.

[1]: https://www.colgate.com/en-us/oral-health/brushing-and-floss... [2]: https://riverrundentalspa.com/brush-teeth-too-long/

You probably don't brush correctly: you need to apply sufficient pressure on your teeth so the bristles can scrub the enamel well enough. Or else there is no way your head has no visible deterioration after 5 months at 5 min per brushing.

The toothbrush has an integrated pressure sensor and starts vibrating when you apply too much

Then I don't believe you have no visible deterioration.

The brushes have this sensor for a reason. Too much pressure may harm your gum. The article talks about a ultrasound brush, no pressure required.

It's not only a matter of aesthetics but bacteria etc. Your brush head collects a sh*tload of food waste (which you don't see with your eyes) and remains a bit wet after usage. Perfect substrate for some living organisms. If you have a microscope, feel free to have a closer look.

If you reset it, it's as good as new, right?

All it saves is a light blinking at you. A bit of electrical tape will also solve that problem.

I would question your priorities if you're trying to save on $4 heads for a $90 toothbrush.

There's a $35 edition of that toothbrush today, I got a similar one at $25 (iirc) on some Black Friday. $10 heads are an issue when $5 toothbrushes exist.

I would question your priorities if you're paying more than a couple of bucks on a toothbrush in the first place.

My priorities are: Not wanting fillings.

The difference between using a tongue brush and an electric toothbrush (vs just manual brushing with and without a tongue brush) was so stark that I've never for a moment felt like £40 for a toothbrush with an annual cost of £11.20 for toothbrush heads has ever not been worth it.

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