In this article, we carry out a review of oral irrigation devices known as water flossers.
There are dozens of oral irrigation devices on the market ranging from as little as £10 which go all the way to over £100.
The main aim is to remove plaque bacteria in hard-to-reach areas such as under the gums, interdentally and around crowns, bridges and implants.
Their main feature is that a jet of water is produced which aims to dislodge bacterial plaque from the surfaces of your teeth.
The vast majority are battery-operated which are generally rechargeable. This means that you can also carry them around but you can also buy some which are operated by the mains and even some which do not require any power at all. The ones which have batteries in are more powerful than those which come without batteries.
Oral irrigation devices do not replace tooth brushing or flossing or using interdental brushes. However, they are primarily designed as an adjunct.
We looked at several oral irrigation devices and gave an opinion on how they function. We then rated it out of 10 at the end for you to decide whether you should purchase or stay away from it. If that is not enough, you can check out an in-depth review for each item.
With that being said, let’s start with Water Flosser number 1.
1. The Portable Jet Floss Water Flosser
This water flosser has a price tag of only £9 but has a poor build quality and a poor water pressure which means that it won’t be able to remove any plaque or food debris from your teeth. Despite this, we did a full in-depth review here.
2. The Liberex FC2660S Water Flosser
Overall, it is not the worst water flosser device for around £40 but it is no substitute to proper brushing, manual string flossing or interdental brushing. Read the full review here to find out more.
3. The Fairywill Water Flosser
The cost of this water flossing device is £28 Plus the £4.50 postage which equates to a total of £32.50. The water pressure wasn’t as high as the premium brands but it was better than most. Read the full review here.
4. The Waterpik Advanced Water Flosser
This is a £100 water flosser. This device comes with 3 pressure settings and 4 tips with a 2-year warranty. With a high price tag, would it be a good investment? Read the full review here.
5. The Hangsun Water Flosser
Hangsun is the name of this water flosser and is in the mid-range price bracket. There are three settings which are normal, soft and pulse and has a 300ml capacity reservoir which is better than most. But the product is another story. Read the full review here.
6. The Oral-B Water Flosser
This is the water flosser from Oral-B and retails at £60. It comes with all the bell and whistles including 6 cleaning modes, 3 settings, and 2 different types of water streams. Everyone has heard of Oral-B, but why not their water flossers? Read the full review here.
7. The Original Waterpik Water Flosser
The Waterpik at £60 is regarded as the standard to which the other brands try to emulate. There are 10 settings and it comes with 7 tips which are well designed especially for posterior teeth. Waterpik were the ones to come up with a water flosser. Are the founders better than the developers? Read the full review here.
8. The Phillips Sonicare AirFloss Ultra Power Flosser
Philips has also joined the water flossing bandwagon with their unit competing with the best at £90. It is marketed as an “ultra power” water flosser in their leaflet. Unfortunately, that didn’t seem like the case in our tests. Read the full review here.
9. The Portable Oral Irrigator
This is a cordless water flosser made by a non-household name and comes at a price tag of £29 plus another £4.50 for postage and packing making a total of £33.50. The makers claim of delivering a water pressure between 30 psi to a high of 120 PSI but in our test that is not the case. Read the full review here.
10. Panasonic’s Budget Water Flosser
This is a water flosser from Panasonic costing £25. It is portable due to its water reservoir which can be compressed. Although it was made from a well-known brand, it did not meet our expectation. Read the full review here.