The Oral-B Genius 9000 is a fantastic toothbrush. It is the best electric toothbrush that Oral-B make. Having said that, it’s also the most expensive so it’s important that you make sure that it’s the brush for you before you buy. This is our review of the Oral-B Genius 9000, written by our award winning dentist, Dr Andrew Wilson. We’ve included the pros and cons of this ‘smart’ toothbrush. Andrew is going to highlight each of the key features and also compare to other brushes in the Oral-B range. If you’re in a rush, the key messages are at the top of this review. This review was updated 12th May 2019. Most of the Oral-B Genius 9000 range are priced at just under £120 on Amazon. This is okay value but I have seen them sell for as low as £99.99 on Amazon.
Overview
If we ignore cost, there is no question that the Oral-B Genius 9000 is the best electric toothbrush that you can currently buy in the UK. That may seem a silly thing to say because, of course, we cannot ignore price. But frankly, it is just a fantastic bit of kit.
It delivers the same fantastic clean that all of the Oral-B electric toothbrushes provide with its unique 3D cleaning action. The Genius 9000 also has a ‘PRO Clean’ mode which increases the speed of the brush. I really like this mode but some people may feel it’s a bit too strong for them.
There are cheaper electric toothbrushes available. Other brushes in the Oral-B range such as the Oral-B Pro 2 2500N are absolutely fantastic and the toothbrush handle (the important bit) is not that different from the Genius 9000. I’ll go into this below in more detail in the ‘comparison’ section.
The Oral-B Genius 9000 has all of the key features required to make it a great brush (I’ll go into them in more detail below). It also has ‘smart’ features that allow it to link to your phone through the Oral-B app. These high tech features are certainly not vital and many people will prefer an electric toothbrush with less of the gadgets but when you combine the Genius 9000 with the Oral-B app, it becomes a fantastic motivator to improve the health of your teeth and gums.
If you can afford this brush, it is a fantastic way to improve your dental health, avoid tooth decay and reduce your dentist bills. The best place to buy tends to be Amazon. It’s heavily discounted and you know you’re getting the genuine product. At the time of writing, Amazon are charging £119.99 for almost every package in the Oral-B Genius 9000 range. The all white package is £116.95 which is not bad. As mentioned above, I have seen them sell for less but, at the moment, this represents decent value. (Prices accurate 12th May 2019)
Pros:
- Amazing 3D cleaning action
- Extra ‘PRO Clean’ mode
- Built in timer
- Pressure control to protect gums
- Two week battery life
- ‘Smart’ features that encourage brushing
Cons:
- Relatively expensive
Would I use it? YES
Should you buy it? Yes, if price is not an issue
- From the No.1 dentists recommended brand worldwide
- Removes up to 100 Percent more plaque vs a manual toothbrush for cleaner teeth and healthier gums
- 100 Percent brushing coverage: With position detection technology so you never miss a zone
- With gum pressure sensor: Alerts you when you are brushing too hard to protect your gums
- Choose from 6 brushing modes including: deep clean, sensitive, whitening
The Details
Features
Here, I will first describe the basic features that you’ll find included on most Oral-B electric toothbrushes. Then I’ll go into the features that make the Oral-B Genius 9000 stand out.
Oral-B 3D cleaning action
I’m a huge fan or Oral-B electric toothbrushes. That’s not to say that I don’t like their main competitor, Philips Sonicare, and the scientific evidence shows that they are both extremely effective at removing plaque (the soft build-up of bacteria that causes tooth decay). But I personally prefer the feel during brushing of the Oral-B brushes. The Oral-B electric toothbrushes work by mechanically cleaning your teeth, working in 3 dimensions. In the standard mode, the toothbrush head is oscillating 9900 times per minute and pulsing 45000 times in that same minute. This vigorous action leaves my mouth feeling fantastically clean.
Pressure control sensor
Almost all of the Oral-B Brushes have an inbuilt pressure sensor that warns you when you are pressing too hard with the brush head. On the Genius 9000, a ring around the top of the brush handle goes red and the tone of the brush changes when you’re overdoing it. This helps you to avoid pressing too hard and possibly damaging your gums. Really scrubbing your teeth is a leading cause of gum recession. This brush should help you to avoid this.
Built-in timer
The Oral-B Genius 9000 has a timer that buzzes every 30 seconds and an extra buzz after two minutes. The idea of this is to make sure that you’re brushing for the full two minutes that we recommend. By buzzing every 30 seconds, this toothbrush is giving you an indication of how long to spend brushing each quarter of your mouth. Most Oral-B brushes include this feature. Personally, I tend to brush for a bit longer than two minutes but if you’re someone who previously may have been guilty not spending long enough cleaning your teeth, this is a really handy feature.
What sets the Genius 9000 apart is that, when you link it to the app, you can watch the timer on your phone. You also get information on how long you’ve been brushing your teeth for every day. When linked to the Oral-B app, this toothbrush records how often and for how long you’re brushing. By using this, you can track improvement and see when you’re getting a bit lazy. For me, this is a great motivator to help you take better care of your teeth.
Cleaning modes
The Oral-B Genius 9000 has six different cleaning modes. This is too many. However, there are a couple of really good ones and there’s a mode unique to this toothbrush which I really like.
Standard mode: This is what most people should be using (unless you want to try the ‘PRO clean’). It works fantastically.
PRO clean mode: I really like this mode. It’s the same as standard mode but with a little extra oomph. This is the mode I tend to use.
Sensitive mode: This is the slightly slower mode (6000 oscillations compared to 9900 with the standard mode). It might be necessary to use this mode if you have sensitive teeth or receding gums however, as long as you’re not pressing too hard, I’d give it a try first on the standard mode.
Whitening mode: This mode is a bit silly. The speed of the toothbrush ramps up and then suddenly slows down. It speeds up again and suddenly slows. There is absolutely no reason why this would whiten your teeth or remove stains any more effectively than the standard or ‘PRO clean’ modes. Avoid this mode.
Gum care mode: Again, avoid this mode. It speeds up and slows down in waves. If you have concerns regarding your gums, seek advice from your dentist but you should either be using the standard or sensitive mode.
Tongue cleaning mode: No need for this mode. If you’re going to clean your tongue, just use it in the standard mode.
Lithium ion battery
Oral-B electric toothbrushes have always had extremely reliable batteries. The lithium ion battery included in the Oral-B Genius 9000 is no different. If you’re brushing for two minutes twice a day, it claims to last for two weeks. I often brush for much longer than two minutes and tend to charge mine every week or week and a half which I’m very impressed with.
‘Smart’ features and the Oral-B app
This is where the Oral-B Genius 9000 stands out from the rest of the market. I will say again, these features are not essential. If money is tight, I would consider something else in the Oral-B range. However, these features are great motivators that allow you to track your progress.
As mentioned above, the Oral-B app allows you to record how often and for how long you have been brushing your teeth with the Genius 9000. It records for up to six months and you’re able to download the data if you wish.
However, the best ‘smart’ feature is the position detector. I have been very critical of this in the past because it really didn’t work when it first came out. However, it appears that they’ve worked on this and now it’s much more reliable. The app becomes your own little tooth brushing coach. It guides you around your mouth as you brush, ensuring that you brush each area thoroughly and you’re not missing a particular spot.
Far from essential but the position detector can be great for showing you where you’re missing when brushing. It works much better than it used to.
Travel case
Again, this is certainly not an essential feature for an electric toothbrush but the Oral-B Genius 9000 travel case is very slick. It’s a nice design and has a quality feel to it. The big bonus of this travel case is that it allows you to recharge your toothbrush and your phone so that you’re never caught out while away from home.
Replacement toothbrush heads
Every Oral-B Genius 9000 comes with four brush heads. I recommend that you replace the brush head every three months so, in theory, you have enough toothbrush heads for a year.
Most packages come with two CrossAction heads, one whitening head and one sensitive (soft bristled) head. This gives you a chance to try out the best three heads in the Oral-B range. However, in my opinion, the CrossAction head is by far the best. It’s small so good at getting right to the back around your last molar teeth. It’s very comfortable to use removes plaque more effectively than the softer sensitive head.
If you just want to buy a package with four CrossAction heads included, I would highly recommend the Oral-B Genius 9000 Midnight black package. This includes four black CrossAction heads which will keep you going for quite a while.
Comparison
I would now like to consider the other options you may wish to consider if you’re not convinced by the Genius 9000 or you need help picking between the different Genius 9000 packages.
Oral-B Genius 9000 vs Oral-B SmartSeries 6500
The Oral-B Genius 9000 is just that little bit better in every aspect than the SmartSeries 6500. The Oral-b SmartSeries is a rebranding of the old Oral-B Triumph toothbrush that used to be the best in the range. It’s still a great toothbrush but they are generally priced very similarly so it would make more sense to pick the Genius 9000.
The Oral-B Genius 9000 is a slightly slimmer brush which I find makes it more comfortable in your hand. It also comes with a much better travel case that allows you to recharge your toothbrush and mobile phone. The Genius 9000 comes with the ‘PRO clean’ mode and improved ‘smart features’. The ability of the Oral-B Genius 9000 to detect where it is within your mouth while using the Oral-B app is a great motivator and something that sets it apart from the Oral-B SmartSeries 6500.
If you were looking at the Oral-B SmartSeries 6500, I would seriously consider the Genius 9000. The only reason to go for the SmartSeries 6500 would be to get the wireless ‘Smart Guide’. This is a little timer that tells you how long you’ve been brushing for. For me, it’s not worth it. I’d still go with the Oral-B Genius 9000.
Oral-B Genius 9000 vs Oral-B Pro 2 2500N
If you’ve read our ‘best electric toothbrush’ article, you’ll know that we rated this the Oral-B Pro 2 2500N the best electric toothbrush on the market at the moment. Although it doesn’t have all of the snazzy extras and ‘smart’ capabilities of the Genius 9000, it is an outstanding toothbrush which does everything you need it to.
The Oral-B Pro 2 2500N has a built-in pressure sensor and timer. It has the sensitive and standard modes (all you need unless you want to super-charged ‘PRO clean’ mode of the Oral-B Genius 9000). It also comes with a travel case. This case is not as good as the case that comes with the Oral-B Genius 9000 but you may not care.
The Oral-B Pro 2 2500N is a simply brilliant electric toothbrush because it will give you a great clean at an affordable price. However, if you can afford it and you were considering the Oral-B Genius 9000, the extra modes, ‘smart’ features, recharging travel case and extra toothbrush heads make it okay value for money.
Which Oral-B Genius 9000 package should I buy?
They are all currently the same price on Amazon so there’s not much in it. The 'standard Genius 9000 package is great. It comes with four heads which gives you the chance to try out different options and see what you prefer. The standard package in either colour comes with two CrossAction heads, one sensitive head and one whitening head.
You could chose the Midnight Black package which comes with more CrossAction heads (my preferred Oral-B toothbrush head).
There’s also a package where the toothbrush handle is ‘Orchid purple’. The toothbrush heads are the same as in the standard package. It’s the same price as the standard package so if you’re really keen on the purple handle, go for it. Otherwise, it’s identical to the white handle package.
Or you could consider the ‘Rose gold’ Genius 9000 package. This is certainly a very pretty toothbrush. It comes with two whitening heads, one cross action head and one sensitive head. Again it’s the same price as the others. It’s normally more expensive but it currently costs £99.99 on Amazon. The toothbrush itself works exactly the same but the ‘rose gold’ panel on the front just jazzes things up a bit.
The Verdict
The Oral-B Genius 9000 is a brilliant toothbrush. It will provide excellent care for your teeth and gums (providing that you use it). It has several great ‘smart’ features that really help it to stand out from the rest of the range and Oral-B’s competitors.
There are much cheaper toothbrushes available if you would prefer a simpler, no frills electric toothbrush. Something like the Oral-B Pro 2 2500N is unbeatable value. However, if you’re keen for the absolute best electric toothbrush you can get regardless of the price, the Oral-B Genius 9000 is the toothbrush for you.
When choosing which Genius 9000 to get, I would buy from Amazon as they always offer great value compared to other retailers and I would chose the ‘Midnight black’ package for the extra CrossAction toothbrush heads (unless you had your heart set on a different colour).
- From the No.1 dentists recommended brand worldwide
- Removes up to 100 Percent more plaque vs a manual toothbrush for cleaner teeth and healthier gums
- 100 Percent brushing coverage: With position detection technology so you never miss a zone
- With gum pressure sensor: Alerts you when you are brushing too hard to protect your gums
- Choose from 6 brushing modes including: deep clean, sensitive, whitening
If you would like to know more about how to chose an electric toothbrush, read our ‘Best Electric Toothbrush’ article.
Why take our advice?
This article was written by our award winning dentist, Dr Andrew Wilson (GDC 209563). Andrew is a guest expert for BBC Radio and ITV News on everything dental. This website has no links to any toothbrush manufacturers. This article simply represents Andrew’s opinion of the Oral-B Genius 9000 electric toothbrush in 2019.
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