The 15 Best Oral Care Products For Dental Hygiene, According To Experts
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At a Glance: The Best Dental Care Products
Best Toothpaste: Colgate Total Plaque Pro Release
Best Electric Toothbrush: Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart 9500
Best Manual Toothbrush: Oral-B Cross Action Toothbrush
Best Dental Floss: Cocofloss Dental Floss
Best Water Flosser: Waterpik ION Professional Water Flosser
Best Mouthwash: Crest 3D White Brilliance Mouthwash
Best Whitening Kit: Laughland Whitening Kit
Whether you want to achieve a blindingly bright smile, prevent cavities, or put the kibosh on bad breath, your dental habits effects your oral health more than you might realize. Sure, we all want our pearly whites to stay nice and shiny (there’s a whole song about it), but maintaining proper dental hygiene is instrumental for helping prevent even bigger health issues. “The crazy thing about cavities is they don’t hurt at first,” said Dr. Markelle Smith, DMD, a dentist at Midtown Dental Group in New York City. “A lot of people come in with sensitivity and they think they have a cavity, but usually it’s gum recession. When you start to have sensitivity from a cavity, that’s when it gets really bad.”
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While regular checkups and dental cleanings are important, consistently brushing twice and flossing once a day are paramount to helping control the bacteria in your mouth. “When you’re sleeping with your mouth closed, it’s a warm, wet, dark environment, which makes it the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. That bacteria then sticks to your teeth and multiplies, which is just a recipe for gum disease and bad breath.”
That being said, you want to make sure what you’re putting in your mouth (and your grooming methodology) is as effective as possible. The best dental care products remove as many food particles and plaque from the surface of your teeth as possible, along with preventing gum inflammation. Besides boasting your oral hygiene, your dental essentials should also be pulling-double duty to help you tackle specific problems, like tooth sensitivity, yellowing, or bad breath.
What Are the Best Dental Care Products?
To select our top picks, we got the expert guidance of Dr. Smith on how to build an effective oral care regimen. These recommendations are for the products he personally uses and recommends to his patients, along with gear we’ve personally tested ourselves. Don’t fear your next trip to the dentist — feel empowered to take control of your oral health with these top-rated oral care products.
1. Colgate Total Plaque Pro Release
$12.96
Plaque is your biggest enemy when it comes to oral health, and Smith has used Colgate before and says it’s “very good” at what it does. This specific formula foams up on your teeth and penetrates hard to reach places to effectively eliminate the sticky bacterial film that can harden and contribute to gingivitis. What we like: the more you use it (which is important), the better the antibacterial protection works to keep gum-harming plaque at bay, so you can get the healthiest smile possible.
2. Arm & Hammer AdvancedWhite Extreme Whitening
$7.27 $8.05 10% off
“This may not be the sexiest toothpaste in the world, but I actually use Arm & Hammer. It’s the most effective toothpaste that I’ve found for whitening,” says Smith. “I started using their AdvancedWhite Extreme Whitening formula and I had people ask, ‘did you get your professionally teeth whitened?’ I was like no, I just started using this toothpaste.” Along with a powerful whitening formula, this toothpaste also helps gently remove stains and prevent new acidic stains (such as from coffee) from setting.
No matter which toothpaste for whitening you use, Smith recommends that when you brush your teeth at night, you shouldn’t rinse with water afterwards. “You’re going to let a thin film of the toothpaste sit on the teeth overnight while you sleep. That gives the active ingredient in the toothpaste (usually some derivative of hydrogen peroxide) more time to sit in the teeth so you get a better whitening effect overall.”
3. Made By Dentists Total Care Toothpaste
$31.96 (4-Pack)
Formulated with the 0.24 percent fluoride sodium fluoride, Made by Dentists’ Total Care Toothpaste has all the cavity and tooth decay-fighting power you want, with none of the filler you don’t. If you’re looking for more of an all-natural clean, this toothpaste is free from toxic ingredients like sulfates, is vegan-friendly, cruelty-free, and made with 100% recyclable packaging. It’s one of the best amongst the “clean” brands at protecting your enamel, compared to something like Tom’s. “I did try Tom’s, and what I found with Tom, is that you don’t get as good of a clean, especially if you’re just using a regular manual toothbrush.”
4. Sensodyne Pronamel Intensive Enamel Repair
$18.72
“Sensodyne is good for people who have sensitive teeth,” says Smith, thanks to a formula that helps repairs microdamage and rebuilds strength in your enamel. This is the best pick if you’ve been experiencing a jolt of pain after drinking or eating something on either end of the temperature spectrum (think hot coffee or ice cream), since sensitive teeth are commonly caused by enamel erosion. While it can’t ease all your sensitive teeth woes (we suggest a dentist’s visit for that) it can help prevent erosion from exposure to particularly acidic foods and drinks.
5. Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart 9500 Electric Toothbrush
$279.96
“Ideally, you should be using a high quality electric toothbrush. And not just any electric toothbrush, because Quip was big for a long time, but personally, I think it’s terrible for plaque removal.” Smith says there’s a reason why the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean is miles ahead of the competition — and why it’s priced that way, too. “Think about the feeling of what it’s like after you get your teeth cleaned professionally. Every time you brush with the Philips Sonicare, you have that feeling.” Not only does it remove up to 10 times more plaque and improves gum health in just two weeks, it comes with four different smart brush heads that pair with specific brushing presets (Smith recommends the TongueCare setting/brush head if breath is your concern).
6. Oral-B Cross Action Toothbrush
$8.71
If you’re going to use a manual toothbrush, Smith loves Oral-B’s Cross Action brush for maximizing plaque removal. The bristles are specifically angled in opposite directions to more effectively lift out and sweep away plaque, and longer bristles dig deep between your teeth for a truly thorough clean. “While correct brushing technique is important, a regular, over-the-counter drugstore toothbrush Oral-B is going to be pretty good, and even better than an ineffective brush like Quip.”
7. Davids Professional Tongue Scraper
$19.95
“When I’m doing the exam, I can tell a patient who brushes their tongue apart from a patient who doesn’t,” says Smith. “I want everyone to think about going to sleep at night with the cleanest mouth possible.” For helping with bad breath and reducing bacteria, Smith recommends either using a brush with a tongue-cleaning head (like on the Philips), or a scraper like Davids. Made from medical-grade stainless steel, this removes debris from your tongue with ease, leaving you feeling fresh and clean.
8. Cocofloss Dental Floss
$36.00
“If you ever wonder where your bad breath might be coming from — and you don’t have a regular flossing routine — take a piece of floss, floss it in between your back molar and sniff it.” To establish a regular flossing routine, you’re going to want something that both glides easily and doesn’t taste terrible: enter Cocofloss. Infused with coconut oil and vegan wax, it glides super smoothly between teeth and can feel more comfortable on your gums. It’s fun and functional, with plenty of flavors to choose from, but still made with a woven design that captures cavity-causing plaque.
9. Oral-B Glide Floss Picks
$19.95 $25.99 23% off
“A lot of patients complain that when they floss it shreds. Drugstore floss can just break instantly. This one is probably the one I use most, actually.” Smith says Oral-B Glide lives up to its name, as it glides easily and makes for an efficient scraping motion. “It also shreds the least.” These picks also have a unique tension control that helps you grip and really dig in there so you can clean below the gumline without any slippage.
10. Waterpik ION Professional Water Flosser
$89.99 $99.99 10% off
“Essentially a water pick is a device you fill with water, and it shoots a pressurized stream in between your teeth. It cleans out the gunk that’s in between the teeth, and while it’s not going to have that same effect as scraping the sides of the teeth with floss, it’s a good tool to have.” If you want to avoid the yearly anxiety at the dentist, Smith agrees that Waterpik’s ION is the gold standard for water flossers. You’ll get enhanced pressure with 10 settings, massage mode for gum stimulation, plus a built-in timer/pacer for a floss-worthy clean.
11. Tebikin Cordless Water Flosser
$20.99
“When I’m traveling or on-the-go, I use Tebikin’s flosser. It’s super cheap, but it’s super effective,” says Smith. We like that it has an easy-to-operate on-off button, and how simple it is to toggle between the five settings mid-use. The ergonomic design makes it simple to hold and operate, but even with it’s lightweight build, it packs a water pressure of 40-140 PSI to remove food residue and plaque from every nook and cranny that you can’t reach with your brush.
12. Crest 3D White Brilliance Mouthwash
$53.94
While there is the Diamond line, Smith recommends Crest 3D Brilliance for a mouthwash, saying it’s “really good, especially for whitening.” You can banish bad breath for good and skip the burn with its alcohol-free formula, which is a nice change of pace from heavy-duty washes. Even though there’s no peroxide either, it helps to remove surface stains even better than brushing to get you that whiter, brighter smile.
13. Laughland Whitening Kit
$76
If you don’t want to deal with strips, Laughland’s Whitening Kit is the best of both worlds: easy-to-use and effective. It only requires a whitening gel, an applicator, and the LED mouthpiece, so you can apply in seconds and get on with your day. Just squeeze the gel on mouthpiece, then put it on and wait 10-20 minutes. Laughland says the gel stays on your teeth longer than a traditional whitening pen (and won’t effective sensitive teeth), so your smile will brighten long after you apply — no rinsing, brushing, or removal required. The good news?
14. Smile Pop Whitening Gel Pen
$7.99 $9.99 20% off
“For whitening products, it really depends on your maintenance,” says Smith. “Let’s say you do the whitening. If you’re still drinking three cups of black coffee a day and eating staining foods like blueberries and turmeric, and if you’re not using a very powerful toothbrush to remove the sediment through the staining, the results can fade away pretty quickly.” That’s why Smith recommends this whitening gel pen from Smile Pop. “The incredible thing about the gel is that it sticks to your teeth, so it can be more effective over time.” Not only is this formula safe for sensitive teeth, but it removes stubborn stains from coffee, tea, wine, smoking, and more.
15. Crest 3D Whitestrips
$45.99
Crest 3D whitening strips are praised for their effectiveness, and for good reason. The company says their strips can remove 14 years worth of set-in stains from your teeth when used for 30 minutes a day. If used properly, you could notice your smile become whiter in as little as three days. This pack of whitening strips includes twenty full treatments plus two treatments of the “1 Hour Express Whitestrips,” which stay on your teeth for one hour and deliver same-day results.
These whitening strips are made with no-slip technology for easy use and use the same enamel-safe whitening ingredient that dentists use (bonus: these strips are the only whitening strips accepted by the American Dental Association (ADA)).
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