A post over at YSK talked about flossing, and mentioned water picks.
- Anyone got any recommendations they can share?
- How much should I be spending?
- Any reasons for or against?
I have one. They are pretty nice for teeth.
Even more fun to use as a squirt gun.
At work.
At my boss.
Guess who lost their job?
My boss.
I miss that guy.
That guy was awesome to work with.
In my experience, it does not clean as well as string floss, but it has better reach and ease of use. It helps a lot if you have a trouble flossing or if you have braces, but it does not get in-between teeth as well. It can’t replace string floss, but it’s a good alternative.
I recommend one with enough capacity so that you don’t have to refill more than once. Also consider the pressure of the water as, in my experience, only the high settings clean my teeth well.
I purchased a generic one. It’s no longer sold on Amazon.ca.
Search for “water flosser” or “oral irrigator”.
I paid under $50 CDN and no complaints.
I have crowded teeth and various issues that mean this is a much better option for me than normal flossing and use it regularly.
I’ve had both the wired and wireless pik and the wireless one is my favorite even though the reservoir is smaller. I like that can take it into the shower and do my flossing there and it feels less messy somehow.
I have a wireless one as well (gifted) and it’s good but find it’s more of a hassle to use. Good for travel or if you don’t have a much counter space. The one I got is battery powered so you have to change batteries and I don’t have rechargeables so in practice I don’t use it. I would probably use it more if it was usb chargeable.
I’m also new to this topic and last week bought an OralB as a test. I found it underpowered, noisy and big. I returned it and bought one that gets attached to your faucet. Zero technology, but has waaay more pressure than an electric one, is silent, does not break and barely uses any space. This is it.
Wish I knew about this! Same complaints about mine. Also don’t love it, would probably use this one more often.
Wonder how well it handles hard water. With my Waterpik I can run vinegar through it.
I add a little mouthwash to mine. Keeps the unit and me minty fresh.
Is a water pick as effective as flossing? I assume it gets stuck food out just fine, but plaque?
Our dentist said you can’t top flossing, but it’s better than not doing it at all. So waterpik in the morning, floss at night. /Shrug
Can’t advocate using a water pick enough, especially if you suffer from trapped food / large gaps in your teeth.
I bought a Panasonic from Amazon for under £50.
Bought this one off a similar thread a while back. Works great but I definitely have to use the sensitive setting. Perfect to use while showering so I don’t have to worry about making a mess.
My wife is an RDH and she got us this one https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HFQQ0VU it’s expensive but I love it - ever since I started using it I have less build up (according to my dentist) and my gums don’t hurt at all. The first few times I used it it was also very gross because whatever tiny food particles it picked up from my gums smelled very bad.
The only word of caution is if you have prosthetics/crowns/dentures you need to select a tip that is made for that job. The default tip might not clean right or even break some of the smaller parts (the pressure level can be adjusted so it depends on what can you tolerate, but over time you’ll be able to tolerate more and more pressure because your gums will heal)
Waterpik means Waterdick in Dutch.
