The Electric Toothbrush You Didn't Know You Needed

Quip includes a subscription to a new toothbrush bristle head every three months.

If you have been on social media in the past year, then you have probably seen advertisements for Quip, the aesthetically pleasing electric toothbrushes being marketed to a millennial audience.

RELATED:

• The Best Compensation Package for Hygienists
• Oral Health in the Heart of Opioid Country and Beyond
• 7 Estate Planning Moves to Make Now

At first glance, it’s easy to dismiss Quip products as needless, ineffective marketing ploys that put beauty over function. They can’t possibly hold a candle to Sonicare, a longtime favorite of dentists, right?

Wrong. In fact, Quip began with one New York dentist’s suggestion that co-creator Simon Enever use any electric toothbrush, even a cheap one, to avoid brushing too hard. Enever and product designer Bill May took this suggestion to heart to provide an electric toothbrush option that kills the game with its minimalist, polished design, creative ad campaign and interactive website, where dentists can connect to patients.

And with price options starting at $30, it’s only a fraction of the cost of most dentist-recommended toothbrushes, so you can feel comfortable talking it up to all your patients. Quip, unlike other brands, is focused solely on design, providing a product that’s not only affordable, visually stunning and efficient but cuts through the fluff to give consumers what they need without gimmicks.

“We soon realized that there were three main causes behind the core problems: over complex and confusing functionality, over designed and clunky products and a total lack of services to cater to the modern lifestyle,” Quip’s website says. “So, we set about creating a more honest, accessible and simple oral care line that would cut out the excess to help focus on the basics that really matter.”

Dr. Mark Burhenne, a family and sleep medicine dentist who advises Quip, notes that any soft bristle brush, when used correctly, can provide the same cleaning as an electric toothbrush.

“It’s the honest toothbrush company that tells you when a brush is worn and no longer safe to use. But Quip takes it one step further by actually doing something about it,” Burhenne wrote on his blog, AskTheDentist.com. “I think it’s high time that we get some help with such an important habit, so much in fact that I agreed to come on as an advisor for Quip, which I’m very excited about.”

Besides its modern design and metallic colors (rose gold is all the rage, and Quip knows it), Quip electric toothbrushes also appeal to younger generations for their portability. Rachel Wilkerson Miller of Buzzfeed said that during other attempts to make electric tooth brushing a part of her routine, she found herself discontinuing it because it was too bulky for overnight trips.

“The lack of a charger also makes it much more convenient for traveling, or just if you schlep across town a few nights a week to sleep at your significant other’s place. (That schlep is, I’m pretty certain, what led me to stop using my second Sonicare several years ago,)” Wilkerson wrote in her consumer review of Quip.

Quip defines itself as a health care startup dedicated to innovating design so consumers can get down the brushing fundamentals. Like any good electric toothbrush, Quip alerts users when it’s time to switch quadrants every 30 seconds and keeps them brushing for the full two minutes. The company consults dentists for their approval, and New York University’s College of Dentistry officially endorsed the product.

If you want to get involved with Quip, sign up here to connect with new patients and invite your existing ones to learn more about these products.

Discover more Dentist’s Money Digest® news here.