Oral

Perhaps the most unique and defining feature of the iO Series 9 is its ability to track the position of the toothbrush in your mouth using sensors built into the handle.

The iO9 is Bluetooth-enabled, making it a smart toothbrush. This allows data to be transferred from the brush handle to an Oral-B app on your smartphone, which provides visual insights into how you are brushing.

As a general rule, we don’t recommend smart brushes. You can brush your teeth just as well without one, they use more resources and they are usually more expensive.

Nonetheless, the intention is that the data is presented by the app in such a way that it educates you and encourages you to pay more attention to what you are doing.?

Unlike the vast majority of iO Series brushes that track 6 zones, the iO Series 9 (and the iO10) have 16 zone tracking.

When tracking 16 zones, you are essentially tracking specific tooth surfaces.

Those zones are:

The logic is that with this more granular data, you can make more focused improvements.

For example, where the iO Series 6 might highlight that you don’t brush your lower back teeth well enough (1 of 6 tracked zones), the iO9 is more specific and shows that you don’t brush the inner surface of the back right teeth.

The whole system is very clever and with serious commitment, some will gain a real benefit.

No brush with real-time tracking — irrespective of brand — is perfect.

With the iO9, there is a real inconsistency in how well the sensor monitors the brush’s position. I’ve yet to establish any notable pattern to the cause. Left handed users (myself included) seem to fare worse.

Some sessions are better than others. It regularly thinks you are brushing a different zone to the one you are in, or not register it at all. There can also be a noticeable lag/delay in the visuals.?

Marginal improvements have been made, but accuracy should be better. I know many will be frustrated by this.

The app doesn’t force you to brush tooth surfaces in a specific order. I wonder whether it would improve the tracking if it did. It would also be useful for encouraging better techniques and habits.

Using the Oral-B app you can change the order of the cleaning modes or disable them. You can set specific oral care journeys, change the brushing time and alter the pacing of the timer.

You can see the remaining battery life and how long you have been using a particular brush head.

You don’t have to use the app every time that you brush your teeth — the data is retained by the handle and shared with the app next time you use it.??

When using the app while you brush, you get a very different screen setup. Not only do you see where you are brushing, but you also see which cleaning mode is selected and how long you have been brushing for. It will show you if you are applying too little or too much pressure.

All in all these are useful features, if not essential.?

You don’t need a smart toothbrush to achieve clean teeth and make positive improvements to your oral care routine. You can do all you need with a manual brush, if not a cheaper electric toothbrush.?

The tech the iO9 offers can certainly help detect areas for improvement, but there is a good chance you already know what these are.

It does make analysing your brushing more fun and engaging, but it comes at a cost.

If you’re committed to the app enough to gain the insights, it still relies on you making the changes to your technique.?

You have the best opportunity to make required changes if you use the app whilst you brush as you will be shown on the screen what’s not going well.

But once you’ve perfected everything, then what? Will you continue to use the app once you’ve achieved a nigh-on perfect brushing score every time?

Even as someone who tests such products, I don’t regularly use the apps outside my testing.

To help perfect your brushing technique you could occasionally use plaque disclosing tablets, which are far cheaper.?