Is Your Sonicare Not Recharging? Try This.
I bought a Sonicare Toothbrush about 4 years ago under the recommendation of my dentist. It is powerful and I have been happy with it since it does leave your teeth feeling smoother (and a little whiter, too).
Click "Like" (or G+/Tweet/PIN) If You Want Sonicare To Make Cheaper Brush Heads
Well, back in March 2008, my Sonicare Elite 7300 toothbrush showed its first sign of age (it is warranted for 2 years). I noticed the charging indicator light not working when it was in its charger (it normally illuminates when fully charged and blinks when recharging). Needless to say, I wasn't too happy because I thought I would have to fork out another $100 for a new one. Hesitant to do this, I emailed a Sonicare rep over at Phillips to see if there were known issues regarding the charger/toothbrush. The short of it...average lifespan of a Sonicare toothbrush is 3-5 years.
MY DISCOVERY!!!
Since I thought that was the end of my Sonicare, I used it until it shut off before the 2-minute brushing timer elapsed. I continued to use it until the toothbrush could not stay on more than 5 seconds or so. I then place it in the charger just to see...and IT STARTED CHARGING! I let it charge fully, used it, and threw it back in the charger where it charged again. It was all good for a couple days then I found it wasn't charging again. Drained the battery again, but it did not charge this time! I left it in the charger and was ready to call it quits. I unplugged it and left it like that overnight (thinking it needed "cooling-off" or "reset" time) and YIPEEEEE, IT STARTED CHARGING AGAIN!!!
Now every time it does not charge itself, I unplug it for about 8 hours (not sure exactly how long it needs to be unplugged to "reset" itself so try a shorter time if you want to) then plug it back in and it works! I've been doing this for almost 6 months and so far so good. I'll take whatever extra life I can get so I can put off spending another $100. In the meantime I'm searching for sales.
UPDATE May 2012: My Sonicare has trouble recharging at times and only last 30 seconds, if that. I'm guessing the end is near and it's time to start looking for a replacement.
Update May 2014: I found a Sonicare on SALE for just $49.99 w/ FREE Shipping:) (as of this post). That looks good to me.
Hope this helps anyone with the same issue as me.
Below are the places where I find the best deals on Sonicare brush heads when you need some replacing.
Sonicare does put out a very powerful toothbrush. If you haven’t experienced one, it will feel weird in your mouth when you first use it. It creates lots of suds from the rapid vibration / oscillation.
Be sure to close your mouth when brushing because the brush will “fling” all the suds all over and create little splatter marks all over your mirror and counter.
I think the sound is a little louder compared to other electric toothbrushes like the Oral B. As far as cleaning power, I haven’t tried any other electric toothbrush to opine on that.
This was recommended by my dentist because they said it removes more plaque than manual brushing. I guess they would know since they can see how much plaque patients have. They’re probably selling these for side revenues so I’ll leave it up to you to decide if their claim is true.
One last thing I did not like was that you must replace the brush heads every 3 months or so, and they run about $12 each! That is the down side to electric toothbrushes.
Be sure to close your mouth when brushing because the brush will “fling” all the suds all over and create little splatter marks all over your mirror and counter.
I think the sound is a little louder compared to other electric toothbrushes like the Oral B. As far as cleaning power, I haven’t tried any other electric toothbrush to opine on that.
This was recommended by my dentist because they said it removes more plaque than manual brushing. I guess they would know since they can see how much plaque patients have. They’re probably selling these for side revenues so I’ll leave it up to you to decide if their claim is true.
One last thing I did not like was that you must replace the brush heads every 3 months or so, and they run about $12 each! That is the down side to electric toothbrushes.
Where To Get The Best Deals On A Sonicare Brush Head
So, is your Sonicare still alive? Through my experience, the cheapest place I've found Sonicare replacement heads was eBay. You need a little luck to get a good deal, however. If you can get a Sonicare Replacement Head for $10 per head (INCLUDING shipping) consider yourself LUCKY.
SIX PHILIPS SONICARE BRUSH HEADS FOR E SERIES ; FITS ESSENCE, XTREME, ELITE
4x Brush Heads For Philips Sonicare Toothbrush e Series/Elite Replacement
philips sonicare e series essence extreme elite advance - 2 brush heads
SIX PHILIPS SONICARE BRUSH HEADS FOR E SERIES ; FITS ESSENCE, XTREME, ELITE
- Current Bid: $27.00Bid Now
- Time Remaining: 13 hours, 41 minutes
4x Brush Heads For Philips Sonicare Toothbrush e Series/Elite Replacement
- Current Bid: $19.95Bid Now
- Time Remaining: 12 hours, 42 minutes
philips sonicare e series essence extreme elite advance - 2 brush heads
- Current Bid: $19.97Bid Now
- Time Remaining: 12 hours, 26 minutes
If You Do Not Care For Your Sonicare Toothbrush, This Is What Will Happen (GROSS!)
Whether you manually care for your toothbrush, use the Sonic Seal (a silicone cover for your Sonicare), or use the Sonicare Sanitizer, keeping your toothbrush clean greatly reduces mold and bacteria.
There is a special going on until December 31, 2008 for a pack of three silicone covers for $7.99 + S/H at The Sonic Seal website. This is the best price I’ve found on-line as her eBay Store has only 1 cover for $7.99 (the last time I checked) and Amazon is out of stock indefinitely.
The following video exposes what your eyes cannot see.
There is a special going on until December 31, 2008 for a pack of three silicone covers for $7.99 + S/H at The Sonic Seal website. This is the best price I’ve found on-line as her eBay Store has only 1 cover for $7.99 (the last time I checked) and Amazon is out of stock indefinitely.
The following video exposes what your eyes cannot see.
Sonicare FlexCare With The IMPORTANT Extra
If you do not regularly care for your toothbrush by keeping it dry between sessions and using mouthwash to kill the germs on it, nor have the Sonic Seal, then it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED that you get the kit with the sanitizer. See why the emphasis in the above video.
The New Weapon To Fight Plaque: Philips Sonicare FlexCare Model HX6932/10 -
We know that the main purpose for brushing is to remove plaque before it turns in to calculus (plaque that has mineralized and can only be removed by your dentist). Thus, this is one Sonicare’s primary focus. They have surpassed the Sonicare Elite when it comes to plaque removal! Their new weapon is called Sonicare FlexCare.
If the time has come to replace your old model, the best deal I found was on eBay but you need a little luck and good timing to win. One lucky bidder got it for $87.25 and that included shipping!
Compare that to the other on-line giant Amazon.com. Some of us don’t have the time to wait for auctions to end and rather just purchase something at a higher price. If this is you, Amazon has it for $125 (UPDATE: I found another seller on Amazon selling it for about $116 TOTAL if you live in the Continental U.S. As of 12/5/08 there were 5 in stock. The page is here.
If you were planning on buying a new Sonicare Toothbrush AND replacement heads, then Amazon has a $40 Amazon.com cash offer that ends on December 31, 2008. The $125 toothbrush plus the $27 brush heads will qualify you for the $40 Amazon.com cash (purchasing over $139 of qualified items is what earns you the $40 Amazon.com cash). The steps to qualify can be found here.
If you were not going to buy replacement heads with the toothbrush, then do not spend more money just to get the $40 Amazon.com cash. That’s the retailers way to get you to spend more money than you normally would.
The Next Best Places To Get Sonicare Replacement Brush Heads
The next best deal is Sam's Club or Costco if you have a membership. I got a pack of 3 for about $33 ($11 per head) . And if I'm not going to Sam's Club or can't win a deal on eBay, I look to Amazon.com. I found the cheapest deal on this page (about $13.23 per head, includes shipping).
Below is the HX7022 Eseries Standard Replacement brush head. This includes:
- 2 e-series replacement brush heads; standard size
- Compatible with sonicare advance, elite, essence and xtreme series handles