PHILIPSSonicare HX6711/02 HealthyWhite 710 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush

This was my first Sonicare Toothbrush that I bought after reading some of some of the positive reviews here. I was replacing an old Braun that I had for over 10 years. This one seems to have more and faster movements of the brush and it does a better job of cleaning my teeth. You know that feeling after you come out of the dentist's office for a cleaning where your teeth have that polished, smooth feeling when you run your tongue over them? Well, even after the first time using this toothbrush my teeth felt that way. My old toothbrush never did that. After using it for a few weeks my teeth looked whiter to me. Now I never did a real test, like brushing one half with this toothbrush and one half with the old, but when I look at myself in the mirror, I can see a difference.I like the timer thingy on this toothbrush. I thought it would be like a bell or a beep, but it's more like a little pause after each of four 30 second segments. So you do each area of your mouth for 30 seconds and then if you want to do the "whitening" segment, you push the bottom button and it'll time those segments. This part is a different type of vibration or movement that is supposed to do an even better job of polishing your teeth. I don't know if it's this part or just spending enough time on each section, but it works. My teeth feel cleaner and look whiter.Another thing that I noticed with this toothbrush is that my gums don't bleed when brushing my teeth anymore. I've had that problem for probably the last 30 years, whether I used my old Braun electric toothbrush or whether I brushed my teeth by hand. After the first couple days with this toothbrush it just stopped. I'm not sure if it's because of the texture of the brush or if it's just contributes to the health of my gums, but it's a nice bonus.The toothbrush is very easy to clean and the brushes snap on and off very easily. It's lightweight which makes it easy to use and it's reasonably quiet for a power toothbrush. I'm completely sold on this brand. When I need to replace it at some point, it will be with another Philips Sonicare product. Two thumbs up!

I had the older model - its going by HX5351 these days. Its the one that lets the water (and whatever) down into the handle and leads to mold if not cleaned often. This new design does not allow for that issue and the brush heads cost less. The brush head for this new one just snaps onto a pin. Also, on the whitening mode it is definitely more powerful. The base for charging does seem a bit on the cheap side. There's this plastic piece that fits over the base and it's for holding extra brush heads. Appartently that it is supposed to snap in place. It doesn't seem to want to do that - the tolerances are off enough, here, that it just simply doesn't happen. In any case, it rests over the top without snapping and I don't have anyone else using it besides me - so it's not really an issue. I'm imagining it probably won't last as long as the old model as the parts moving at extreme speeds that were part of the replaceable brush head are now inside the handle. The old handle had no moving parts - just an electromagnet that was alternating polarities rapidly to get the brush head to vibrate - so there wasn't much that could break. My old one has got to be around 10 years old and still works fine. I'm just tired of trying to clean it out regularly due to the poor design and tired of paying more for brush heads. I believe my old one came with an antimicrobial coating inside the handle and it didn't seem to need to be cleaned as often. My girlfriend just bought a new one of the older model (HX5351) that didn't advertise that coating inside the handle (they make them cheaper now to save money). Her's seems to get dirty pretty fast compared to my old model. If you feel like you want to spend 80 on a toothbrush - more like a hundred by the time you buy extra brush heads that you're going to need, then this is the one to get. I don't think I've gotten one new cavity since using Sonicare. However, I did just see 10 Oral-B toothbrushes, shrink-wrapped all together, at Sam's for like 8 bucks.

I switched to this toothbrush from my old Braun OralB, which I had been using for years. It is probably an upgrade in some respects, but not as good in others. First of all, it is too expensive, probably because of all the unnecessary stuff it has on it, like the 30-second signal to switch quadrants. Nothing but a gimmick to make you think you're getting something great. A cheap clock in your bathroom with a second hand could do the same thing. And I don't know about you, but I can't go a full two minutes without having to spit, which means you have to shut the brush off and start it again. Also, the brush head is way too big for people with small mouths. It is very hard to maneuver around the inside front teeth. I have to hold it at a 90 degree angle to get the teeth clean along the gum line which, of course, sprays water everywhere. I plan to replace the original brush with the compact heads (again, way too expensive) and see if they are better. The whitening cycle is another gimmick they could do without. Unless your teeth are stained on the outside, no toothbrush is going to make them any whiter. The thing does do a good job of cleaning the outside teeth and is quieter and has more power than the OralB. I do prefer a power brush over a manual one, but I am just not that impressed with this one. It's okay, but nothing to rave about.