Customer Reviews

Oral-B Professional Deep Sweep + Smart Guide Triaction 5000 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush 1 Count

Short form of the Review :

This is an excellent electric toothbrush with unique features. It has improved my habits by providing a timer and pressure sensor, and offers 5 different modes, allowing your brushing to be personalized for your needs while still improving your brushing. The sensitive and deep clean options are especially useful. What really makes this product unique in my experience, however, is the fact that it moves in all three dimensions, which makes a noticable difference in cleaning spots that a normal brush might easily miss. It also allows different types of brush heads to be used, again for a tailored experience. To keep this brush in the upper mid range, Oral-B has left out some good features such as automatic santization and an improved charging station. But within its market, this brush is an excellent product that I highly recommend.

Long Form Review:

I've spent plenty of money on other electric toothbrushes, and yes, they generally left my teeth a little whiter and cleaner feeling.

This is something new, and even better.

First of all, this is not a toothbrush for those who, left to themselves, brush once a day for a minute or so (yes, like I tend to do) out of a sense of obligation and general hygiene, and who don't really intend to change. This is targeted for those who are really devoted to a brighter smile and cleaner feeling, and are willing to work for it. In other words, it takes a little more time and effort to use this brush at its full potential.

I mean this in a good way. This product is like a coach/toothbrush hybrid. For those with slack tendencies (ahem...me), its timer helps improve habits by making us more mindful of the time we've spent brushing. It doesn't allow us to rush. It also monitors the pressure you exert during brushing, and lets you know how it feels about your exertions or lack thereof. Our rushed lifestyles harm our health in many ways, but they especially prevent us from caring for our mouths. This brush helps correct this tendency. A toothbrush that helps you make lifestyle health changes? Sweet...

Moreover, it allows you to choose between 5 settings, the most I've ever had in an electric brush. My advice: go with the whitening or daily clean for regular use, and use the "deep clean" once every two or three days, or after a long meal or when you feel a bit gross. My girlfriend uses the sensitive setting almost 100% of the time, however, and tells me she seen a 2 shade improvement in just a few weeks. I told her I hadn't noticed because her teeth were beautiful and perfect before, which earned me a smooch, but the point is that it will improve your smile no matter the setting.

I'm no engineer, but even I can tell this brush attacks plaque in three dimensions - vertical, horizontal, and axial (pushing into the teeth and the gaps between them). You can feel the work being done in all three planes/directions. Especially with the sweeping motion, it reaches more tooth than we naturally cover on our own.

This brush is generations ahead of others on the market, and is mid-range priced, though it certainly is an investment if you're used to getting the job done with a $3 brush and a little mindfulness and fortitude. Since its a new product, I can't speak to its durability, but it feels very solidly constructed, for what that's worth. Overall, if you take your brushing seriously and are in the market for an electric toothbrush, here's my advice: buy this one.

If I were to suggest improvements, I'd love a better charger and automatic UV sanitization. Also, the controls aren't 100% intuitive for we of the iPhone generation, though they can certainly be mastered with 5 minutes of work. But this product leaves my mouth cleaner and whiter than the electric brushes I've had, and that's what my recommendation comes down to, in the end.

I've had three Sonicare over 8 years, currently 2 being used daily in our house. I've always wanted to try the Oral-B but never did. My fiance and I have used this for a couple days and ended up drawing the same conclusions.

The Good:
-Ability to use different style of brush heads. This is by far the best part of the toothbrush. As you can see, you can pick from multiple heads. Unlike brush modes which do absolutely positively nothing different other than change the length of time or the speed, they have different cleaning patterns
-Way the brush heads attach is much better than the sonicare, it feels more secure
-Pressure warning if you're pushing too hard, a lot of people do this and wear down their enamel because toothpaste is abrasive

The Bad:
-It's noisy and I mean NOISY. The reason why is clearly the internal gears are all plastic on plastic and they are not very tight fitting. It is creating a loud resonating sound of cheap plastic clanging against each other. The sonicare sounds like a high end tool with its vibrating hum, the Oral-B sounds like those cheap $5 AA powered toothbrushes you pick up in the impulse section of Wally-world. In fact...it uses standard rechargeable batteries you can swap out unlike the sonicare. The only thing is, all my sonicare brushes have gone easily over 4 years each since it's used only a few mins daily and charged daily (keeps the life of the battery good)
-It feels cheaper, like large hollow plastic. Not very cheap, but definitely cheaper than the sonicare which feels very solid
-Carry case, came warped and didn't lock. Granted you don't need a luxury case but geez, for 10 cents more, they could make it a little better. Given this toothbrush costs over a hundred smackers for a brush, make it a decent case. I can get a better case at the dollar store...for wanna guess?

The Useless:
-Brush modes. Deep clean mode...extends time by 30 seconds. In the old days, you call it brush your teeth for a few seconds more. Or with my 3 year old sonicare, push the button again and brush how long you like.
-That ji-normous, heavy display thing. Instead of spending 10 cents on a quality case, they spend $30 on a remote display that tells you what mode you're in and which 30 second period of the 2 min brush cycle you're doing. I love gadgets, I got a digital toilet that warms and self-washes the bowl but this is pointless and a waste of what could of been put into the actual toothbrush and case. There is no stand and it's an awkward shape. It's meant to stick to your wall or mirror with tape they include. Too bad if you ever move it or it falls off because there is no other way to attach it. No other way to mount it so currently it's just adding more useless clutter to the vanity. There is no stand. It's huge and it's heavy like a hockey puck. It's a non-symmetrical awkward shape. It's not needed, you can do everything exactly the same without it. The handle beeps when it changes 30 sec intervals. Huge red lights light up on the handle if you push too hard, so what is it for? So they can advertise it comes with a LCD display. This is something the engineers thought was stupid but marketing thought it was genius. It's more useful as a self-defense weapon if anyone ever invades my bathroom. This is as useless as the Kardashians at a physics fair. Nobody, nobody is going to use it again after the novelty of using it a few times, again like the, well you get the point.

The actual cleaning:
-Sonicare feels more like a professional clean, this feels more like a soft scrub. I like aspects of both really.

Final verdict...I was going to give this 3 stars but gave it four because of the exchangeable brush heads. I want to try all the different ones but I am sticking with my sonicare as I see it as the more precision, high quality cleaning tool. It's hard for me to get over that sound of loose, cheap grinding plastic. All I can think about is how long before the plastic breaks.

This toothbrush is the premium model of the Triaction 1000 which I
reviewed a few months ago. The Triaction 5000 includes some additional
accessories and brushing modes, but otherwise it's identical, so I'm
including my Triaction 1000 review below since it all applies.

---- From my Triaction 1000 review ----
I've been using the Oral-B Pulsonic Sonic Electric Toothbrush, so most
of my review is in comparison to that.

I'll start with the biggest issue I've found with the Triaction 1000,
since it may be a dealbreaker for some. If you take the brush head out
of your mouth even partially, such as to clean your gum line with the
tip, then the movement if the brush head sprays froth everywhere. For
me, it got on the bathroom mirror and my chest! This does not happen
with the Pulsonic.

As far as I can tell, the frothing is due to the "deep sweep" action.
The Pulsonic head only moves in small vibration motions, but with the
Triaction 1000, every other row of bristles sweeps rapidly from left
to right, moving through about 1/4 inch.

In terms of features, it's a wash (no pun intended) compared to the
Pulsonic. They both have a built in timer for the recommended brushing
time; the brush head pauses for a second to indicate when to move to
the next quadrant of your mouth or finish.

The Pulsonic included a separate fine head for cleaning your gum line
which I find very effective. With the Triaction, if you need this, you
need to buy it as an optional accessory. Also, the Pulsonic has two
vibration speeds while the Triaction 1000 has just one.

In favor of the Triaction, it has a battery charge level indicator
which the Pulsonic does not, and it has a pressure sensor that shuts
off the vibration if you press too hard. The Triaction is also
chunkier than the Pulsonic, but not as much as the Philips Sonicare
Essence Power Toothbrush, which I've also tried. This may be a pro or
con depending on your preference.

In summary, the Triaction has comparable features and seems to clean
just as well as the Pulsonic. The manufacturer claims the sweeping
action is even better at removing plaque than other electric
toothbrushes. It may take some getting used to if you currently use an
electric toothbrush with the traditional vibrating motion. But, the
dealbreaker may be the frothing.
---- ----------------------------- ----

Now, getting down to the differences between the Triaction 1000 and
the 5000. It's clear that Oral-B are marketing the 5000 as their
premium product. In addition to what you get with the 1000, you also
get a travel case, the wireless "Smart Guide" to guide your brushing
(more on that later), a covered brush head rack that attaches to the
charger and holds four heads, an extra brush head, four additional
brushing modes, and the battery life is listed as up to 10 days,
rather than up to 7 for the 1000.

The Smart Guide is a battery powered LCD display (about the size of an
iPhone, but more than twice as thick), that communicates wirelessly
with the toothbrush, counting up or down in the ADA recommended 30s
intervals you should spend on each quadrant of your teeth. It also
highlights the quarter circle corresponding to the quadrant you should
currently be brushing. It also displays an icon indicating the
selected brushing mode, and if you press too hard, in addition to the
warning light on the toothbrush that the Triaction 1000 shares, a
warning icon and red light will appear on the Smart Guide. When not in
use, the Smart Guide doubles as a clock. Thankfully, you don't have to
use the Smart Guide if you don't want to. The vibration of the brush
also pauses at the 30s intervals to let you know it's time to move to
the next quadrant. The 5000 also beeps once after the first quadrant,
twice after the second, etc., but the volume is so low that it can't
be reliably heard over the noise of the toothbrush and a running tap.

Compared to the single brushing mode on the Triaction 1000, the 5000
also includes a "deep clean" mode which brushes with the same
intensity, but the time intervals are increased to 45s. In addition
there is a delicate mode which brushes with lower intensity, a
polishing mode where the intensity ramps up and down, and a "massage"
mode, supposedly for your gums, where the intensity ramps up and down,
but at a somewhat gentler level. I'm not a dentist, but I find it hard
to imagine how it could be good for your gums. It's still much more of
a fast vibration than a gentle massage.

In terms of the extra features, I think the travel case and the extra
brush head add the most value. The delicate brushing mode may be
useful for some, and the Smart Guide could be useful if people have
trouble following the pauses in the brushing action that convey the
same information. The extra battery life and other brushing modes
won't be used by most people, and they probably won't use the rack
either unless they buy one of the other types of brush head to
complement the one supplied.

While reviewing the Triaction 5000, I also had the following criticisms...

* Two different brush heads should be included, like the Oral-B
Pulsonic, instead of two of the same
* The brushhead rack is quite bulky. With it attached, it takes up
around three times as much counter space as the charger alone.
Realistically, very few users will have four brush heads in use
simultaneously. It would have made much more sense to have it hold two
brush heads instead. Note that you don't have to attach this rack if
you don't want to. The charger can be used alone.
* The Smart Guide slides into a holder than you can mount on your
bathroom mirror or wall with an included adhesive strip. It would be
nicer if this was attached with a suction cup so that you could
reposition it and also not have to worry about removing the adhesive
gunk from your mirror if you need to move it. However, the base on the
Smart Guide is tilted so that when it sits on the counter, the LCD
display is angled up at you. You can read it quite clearly in this
position, so I don't think most users will have a need to mount the
Smart Guide with the adhesive strip.
* As I mentioned above, the Smart Guide is more than twice as thick as
an iPhone. For something with electronics that are less than 1/10 of
the complexity of an iPhone, there is really no need for it to be this
bulky.
* In 12h mode, the Smart Guide clock has no way to indicate am/pm.
* Although the travel case can hold the toothbrush and two brushheads,
there is no case for the charger or the Smart Guide. For most travel,
this won't be an issue, since the battery should last many days, but
if you need to bring the charger, you'll probably want to put it in a
separate bag to avoid getting toothpaste stains on your clothes.
Unless you're super fastidious about cleaning the charger!
* The charger is not universal voltage, so the US version won't work
in Europe, and vice versa.

In conclusion, if you need any of the added features or accessories of
the Triaction 5000, and you can tolerate the frothing, then get that.
If the Triaction seems like a better fit for you than the Pulsonic,
and you can tolerate the frothing, get the 1000. Otherwise, go with my
choice, the Pulsonic.

Full disclosure: I received a test model to review but was not otherwise compensated. It is possible that the test model is slightly different from the final retail model.

I own an older Oral B Professional 1000, so I can compare this newer Oral-B Deep Sweep + Smart Guide Triaction 5000 with that product.

Both models have a timer that pauses briefly every so often to "prompt" you to switch quadrant, display indicators to show charge life / status ("red" means it's time to recharge the toothbrush, blinking "green" means the toothbrush is still charging, etc); and a pressure sensor / indicator to warn you when you're brushing too hard.

Unlike my older Professional 1000, this Deep Sweep 5000 comes with a travel case, has a smaller charging base, but also a slightly bulkier handler that's less comfortable for my small hand. Instead of the usual small and round brush head, the new product comes packaged with a new bigger brush head that gives it more of a manual toothbrush look.

The bristles on the newer brush head have different lengths and colors: those at the tip of the head are the longest and are light blue in color, the remaining rows of bristles are either dark blue or white in color, and the white bristles are slightly longer than the dark blue ones.

During brushing, the dark blue bristles remain stationary, while the rest produce the sidewise (or up/down, depending on brush orientation) "sweep" motion that helps stimulate the gums.

The Deep Sweep 5000 is currently more expensive than the older Professional 1000 because it is the more versatile of the two models. It offers five brushing modes instead of one: Daily Clean (30 seconds per quadrant), Deep Clean (45 seconds per quadrant), Sensitive (slower speed for gentler brushing), Whitening (for a "polishing" experience) and Massage (for gum stimulation). If you don't need this kind of versatility, the older Professional 1000 is a good alternative.

The Deep Sweep 5000 is compatible with a range of brush heads, so if you don't like the new bigger one that comes packaged with it, you have other choices that could potentially fill your needs better.

This is my second Oral B electric toothbrush, and I am very pleaased with the results. I can really feel the difference in how smooth and clean my teeth feel verse a regular toothbrush. Not cheap, but this product does a great job.

I was looking to upgrade my Sonicare sonic toothbrush that is a few years old. It works well, but the heads are expensive and it has the notorious old Sonicare problem where gunk builds up inside the unit under the brush head. I liked the idea of being able to use different style brush heads with this model, as well as having five different cleaning modes. The LCD screen also looked cool.

One of the first things I realized after turning it on the first time was that it wasn't a sonic toothbrush. I mistakenly assumed that it was at this price range and with these features. It is mechanical and although it is fast, it is not sonic. If you are a fan of sonic toothbrushes, you may not be a fan of this model.

The five cleaning modes leave me a little perplexed. Except for the massage mode, it seems like all of the other modes would clean in the same way but with different patterns. The cleaning modes are fairly unnecessary even though they seem like an attractive feature on the surface.

The elephant in the [bath]room is the LCD SmartGuide. I'm not sure why I was attracted to this feature. After using it a few times, I am probably going to just hide it in a drawer somewhere. It is big and clunky and the only feature I like is the timer... but the toothbrush vibrates every 30 seconds so you don't even need the LCD screen for the countdown. I was surprised that the screen doesn't come with a stand. It comes with double-sided sticky tape (yikes!) for permanent mounting. It would have been nice for it to at least come with a stand or with some other non-permanent mounting method like Command Removable Adhesive strips.

There is a covered case that can hold up to 4 toothbrush heads. But the toothbrush doesn't come with a cover for individual heads. So if you are the only person using this toothbrush, it doesn't make sense to use the 4-pack case, but you are not provided with a plastic cover for your toothbrush head. I find that to be a strange oversight.

This toothbrush does everything that it advertises, and it cleans well. If you have some younger people in the house that could benefit from the LCD guide, this may be a great model for them. If you are prone to brushing too hard, this also could be good for you since the LCD screen shows you when you are brushing too hard. Beyond that, the LCD screen is sort of overkill and unnecessarily turns brushing your teeth into an entire "experience".

Choosing the right electric toothbrush is of great importance to me because I have serious gum recession - one dentist recommended gum surgery but luckily another suggested I just use Sonicare, floss every night, and dab Listerine on my gums. Thanks to his suggestions, I've managed to keep the gum pockets stable and from getting deeper for about fifteen years. My biggest nightmare is to lose my teeth.

So when I ordered this product for review, I was really excited. I couldn't wait to try out Oral B. I was on my fifth Sonicare toothbrush and like a long love affair, wanted to check out something new.

Since I already own several Sonicare toothbrushes, I didn't bother reading the instructions for the Oral B, thinking, well, they all work alike, don't they? As it turned out, not so. I plugged it directly into its base, thinking like it works like Sonicare, but it doesn't. As it turns out, you need to attach the rectagular plastic compartment to the base first before it will start charging. I wasn't sure why the plastic part was so essential. Since the extra compartment takes up counter space, I found this annoying.

This package comes with one toothbrush and I eagerly put it in. I saw it came with a "Smart Guide" timer but thought it was some extra bath accessory, thinking I didn't really need it. That was a mistake.

Well, I tried it for a week, and now I've decided to go back to Sonicare. Why?

(1) The brush head is too big for my mouth and feels cumbersome. The handle is thicker than Sonicare's even though it has only two buttons. I tested all five modes and had a hard time telling which was which without looking at the "Smart Guide" timer on the wall.

Of course you will say, that's why you need the Smart Guide, but with my Sonicare, I never had to put a second, extraneous device on my wall (which, even worse, requires you to support it with batteries, an unnecessary extra expense). The different modes were clearly listed on the handle of the Sonicare - for reference, here the model I have: Philips Sonicare HX6972/30 Flexcare Plus Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush
However, even without looking at the panel, I could usually guess which mode it was by the motion and the sound alone. Here, all modes sounded alike to me. Each one felt too rough on my gums. After I decided to give it one more chance (my seventh try), I was astonished to see that my gums had actually receded a little on the top. I stopped using the Oral B immediately.

(2) With the Sonicare,I was able to use the included brush immediately. In the case of Oral B, the brush isn't "one size fits all". This means I'll have to run out and pay extra for one of the many choices Oral B offers. This is annoying. Oral B should have included a sample selection of toothbrushes so that the customer could figure out which one was best without having to pay extra for his/her first kit.**

**NOTE: According to the product description, my kit was supposed to come with 2 brushes, but I received only one. I will be interested to see if I had received a damaged product, or if another person, like me, received something different than what was in the Amazon description.**

(3) Too loud. Sonicare offers a pleasant hum while you're brushing. When I used Oral B, it sounded like I was doing drilling and construction work on my teeth. It is so loud that it adds to my general impression that Oral B is simply too rough for my tender gums.

(4) The plastic compartment that is attached to the base takes up counter space. My Sonicare came with two chargers - one, a larger UV charging base and a small, travel-size base that I use when I just want it to charge. As I mentioned before, the Oral B won't charge unless the plastic compartment comes along.

Sorry Oral B, but for me, Sonicare wins hands down over this one.

First of all, I am a Sonicare user--I did use Oral B about 6-8 years ago and for some forgotten reason went back to a manual toothbrush. I bought the Sonicare upon the advice of a dental hygienist and the reviews here and on other sites. The Sonicare does a great job. I decided to "hedge my bets" and decided to add this Oral B unit to the arsenal. Both Oral B and Sonicare do a good job--if both are used properly. The new Oral B "deep sweep" was not too hard to get used to after using the Sonicare--I can see how some Oral B users would have a minor problem using this larger brush but for me it was not a problem. I also tried the Oral B "gentle and floss" heads--both are the circular type--both o.k. but still prefer the "deep sweep" head. The new "deep sweep" does a good job but the Oral B unit is a bit louder than the Sonicare. The new "deep sweep" head is supposed to be better than the Sonicare--I can't really tell--both units do a great job--the Oral B unit also "vibrates" more w/in the mouth--not a problem for me. I also have a a couple of crowns and a bridge. I had experienced some irritation around the crowns in the past--not often--but the irritation did happen every few months--even though I thought I was pretty meticulous about keeping them clean with the small periodontal brushes I used. The Sonicare had seemed to alleviate this but it still showed up--once in a while--and it was or could be quite irritating. I decided to add the Oral B "pointer brushhead"--it is especially designed for crowns/bridgework. I don't use it all the time but usually several times a week(I do brush 2X at least every day)in addition to the "normal" head I am using on a daily basis. Since using this "pointer head" I have not had any irritation around the crowns/bridges--this is about 2 months now. Also, both "gels and pastes" work well with this unit. The "electronic timer" is nice but not always necessary since the brush stops every 30 seconds--however unlike the Sonicare--the unit continues even after the 2 minutes are up--I use this continuation to clean the brushhead under the faucet. To sum up, the new Oral B "deep sweep" 5000 is a great unit(BTW, the "deep sweep head" can also be used on the Oral B 1k, 3K and 4K units)--I will use it AND my Sonicare units to maintain my dental health

I use an Oral-B professional care 7500 - have been using it for about 5 years and it has worked well. I was excited to try this new one because it doesn't have a round brush head (even though I could put the round brush heads on this one also; they're perfectly compatible).

I am indifferent. I don't feel that it cleans any better than my old one, and I don't personally like how it stops and beeps every time it wants you to change side. The pressure sensor is useful, but I don't always care about the pressure I put on my teeth anyway, since I don't think I am too hard on them, but supposedly too much pressure will eat away your enamel eventually, so I guess the sensor could be useful for some people.

I also like the round heads more personally, since I don't have a large mouth and the larger head makes it harder to get around inside.

My husband, on the other hand, likes it more than his professional care 1000. He likes the pressure sensor and the timer that is wirelessly connected to the handset showing how long the time has been going. He believes it cleans better than his old one as well.

All in all, however, neither of us think it's worth the extra money spent on it. The cheaper ones we have are good enough to do the job.

I had to replace my Oral-B Sonic Complete electric toothbrush this week after 5 years. I saw the Oral-B Deep Clean in a commercial and everything they say about it is true. I didn't know my old Oral-B was out of date until I tried the Deep Clean. I can feel the difference after the first brushing. The Deep Clean has 5 modes and can take up to 6 different tooth brush heads that help you on your way to healthy gums. I hope to keep this one for 5 years as well.