The Best Toothbrushes for Braces (2024)

• Our Picks

• What to Look For

• FAQ

• Our Expertise

This manual toothbrush looks like something out of Star Trek, but we promise it’s a lot simpler than it seems. The Colgate Keep is an eco-friendly toothbrush with a long-lasting aluminum handle and replaceable brush heads, so you can reduce the usual waste of manual toothbrushes by hanging onto the handle, no matter how often you need to replace your bristles.

What we love about this toothbrush for people with braces is the unique style of that lightweight aluminum handle; with a figure-eight shape and grippable sides, this toothbrush will not only feel good in your hands, it’ll make it easier to twist and turn your brush head as you clean all around your teeth and braces.

“An ergonomic toothbrush with a larger, easier-to-grip handle could make it easier for younger children with braces to adequately clean their teeth and braces and [get to] those harder-to-reach places,” said Ghias Jabbour, DDS, owner of Blanco Crossing Dental.

As far as brush heads go, the Colgate Keep checks off those key boxes, too: it’s smaller and oval-shaped with softer bristles, making it easy to maneuver into tight spots and clean effectively without damaging braces.

Key Specs:
^{Type: Manual | Bristle Firmness: Medium soft | Added Features: Replaceable brush heads}

If you or your child are tough on toothbrushes, you might not want to splurge on electric or manual options, instead opting for something that’s easily tossed and replaced when it’s worn out. But you still need to use a toothbrush that gets the job done, which is why we chose this v-trim double-ended brush by Dental Aesthetics.

With angled bristles for a deeper clean around oral appliances and a colorful handle grip, these toothbrushes (which come in a convenient pack of four) are a good choice for people with braces who want a thorough, reliable cleaning and a constant rotation of brand new brushes that don’t break the bank. As a bonus, they come with an attached interproximal brush for cleaning in and around archwires, something New Jersey-based dentist Dr. Onaedo Achebe said should be an important part of your daily brushing routine.

Key Specs:^{Type:
Manual | Bristle Firmness: Soft | Added Features: Interproximal brush for cleaning around wires}

Some people want all the bells and whistles when they’re paying for an electric toothbrush, and that’s fine, but if you’re just looking for a high-powered cleaning that keeps your teeth healthy while you straighten them, you don’t need a cadre of extra features to confuse you.

That’s what we like about the Philips Sonicare 4100: it’s a dentist-recommended electric toothbrush that provides a powerful clean and just enough extra features to make brushing easier (but not so many that the simple act of brushing twice a day becomes overly complicated). The small oval brush head is compatible with braces and busts plaque on your teeth and gum line better than a manual toothbrush. It also offers several helpful tools—like a pressure sensor, auto-timer, and brush head replacement reminder—to take your brushing to the next level.

Basically, the Philips Sonicare 4100 is the best electric toothbrush for people with braces who just want an electric toothbrush, not an AI-powered robot. It works simply and effectively, making it a good choice for kids and tech-averse adults.

Key Specs:
^{Type: Electric | Bristle Firmness: Medium | Added Features: Brush head replacement reminder}

All of the dentists we spoke to emphasized the importance of choosing a soft bristled toothbrush if you have braces; not only are your teeth more prone to irritation, you’ve got some (very expensive) oral appliances in your mouth that need protecting.

Of the many toothbrushes we reviewed, the Y-kelin v-shaped orthodontic toothbrushes consistently came up as one of the options with the softest, gentlest brushes. In fact, they may even be a bit too soft for some, but we think that makes them a good choice for kids and people with sensitive teeth. We also like that the Y-kelin brushes feature V-shaped bristles for a deeper clean, and a slim and grippable handle design. These brushes also come with a smaller, interdental brush for wire cleaning, an important step in braces hygiene.

“If plaque is left on the teeth [in between the brackets] it will create a white spot lesion on the enamel of the tooth,” said James. “This is like the precursor to a cavity . . . leaving the enamel softer and more susceptible to breakdown.”

Key Specs:
^{Type: Manual | Bristle Firmness: Soft | Added Features: None}

Keeping your gums healthy involves brushing well along your gum line and making sure you’re flossing at least once a day to clean out the nooks and crannies between your teeth. The Perio toothbrush by Dr. Collins makes maintaining squeaky clean teeth and gums a total breeze, thanks to the unique design of the bristles. Not only are they made of soft polyester, they taper down to a slim point at the end, meaning you can get closer to the gum line, deeper in between teeth and archwires, and more smoothly around brackets whenever you brush.

Other features of the Perio brush include an elongated neck for reaching way back into your mouth and some nifty antibacterial properties—the bristles are infused with natural antiseptics, like tea tree oil and magnolia bark, and those polyester fibers are less porous, reducing the chances for bacterial growth.

Key Specs:
^{Type: Manual | Bristle Firmness: Soft | Added Features: None}

Many electric toothbrushes rely on a charge via USB cable or wall plug to power up, which is fine . . . unless you’re a frequent traveler who doesn’t appreciate the inconvenience of having to pack your toothbrush and a charging base. Enter the Triple Bristle GO, a travel-friendly version of the Triple Bristle Original. Instead of needing to be charged, the Triple Bristle GO runs on two AA batteries, so you can pop in a fresh set, toss your toothbrush into your luggage, and, well, go.

On the braces side of things, we like that the Triple Bristle brush head is a soft, angled style with bristles on three sides of the head: this allows you to get a more thorough cleaning with less maneuvering around, and in a shorter period of time, although you should still brush for the full two minutes! This is particularly great for kids with braces, since they tend to be unreliable brushers at best; even if they start slacking a bit, the Triple Bristle GO will keep their teeth and braces cleaner than the average toothbrush.

Key Specs:
^{Type: Electric | Bristle Firmness: Soft | Added Features: Autotime, brush head replacement indicator}

All electric toothbrushes are champions when it comes to breaking up plaque, destroying more of the gunky, disease-causing stuff than most manual toothbrushes.

“Accumulation of germs and old food particles make up plaque, [which] is responsible for gum disease [like] gingivitis—or worse, periodontitis—and cavities,” said James.

What we love about the small, round, brace-friendly brush head on the Oral-B Smart 1500 is that it’s designed to tackle plaque in three different ways: by oscillating, rotating, and pulsing, cleaning the surfaces of your teeth better than the average electric toothbrush.

Other notable features of the Oral-B Smart 1500 include a pressure sensor to protect your gums from aggressive brushing and a timer that lets you know when it’s time to move from one part of your mouth to another. The brush also runs on a long-lasting lithium ion battery which requires less charging to get your teeth and braces sparkling clean.

Key Specs:
^{Type: Electric | Bristle Firmness: Medium | Added Features: Autotimer, pressure sensor}

Frequently Asked Questions

• Are manual or electric toothbrushes better for braces?

  If you truly prefer a manual toothbrush, there’s no reason why you can’t make one work for you, but you will have to do more work to make sure you’re cleaning your teeth and braces thoroughly. For that reason, most of the dentists we asked recommended electric.

  “I believe that electric toothbrushes are better than manual toothbrushes in general [but] especially for patients with braces,” said Reich. “Multiple studies show that electric toothbrushes are better at reducing plaque and gingivitis than manual brushes, [because] electric brushes do most of the work for you, [which] is much better, especially for people with dexterity issues.”

• Are there any risks of brushing with an electric toothbrush when you have braces?

  As long as you’re using your electric toothbrush according to the instructions, they are safe to use if you have braces. The one thing you should be particularly careful about, said Reich, is how hard you brush; using too much pressure can tangle the bristles up with your archwires. Keep the pressure gentle but firm, and utilize your toothbrush’s automatic pressure sensor if it has one.

• How often should you brush your teeth when you have braces?

  Ideally, you should ramp up your brushing to more than just twice per day when you have braces. James noted that it’s always recommended to brush before you go to bed (to remove any lingering daytime food particles) and in the morning (when the nighttime mouth germs are at their highest levels).

  But you might also want to incorporate additional brushing after each meal, she said, to “remove the food particles that collect under the wire and around the brackets.” That should help reduce the amount of plaque buildup in your mouth and keep your teeth and gums healthier.