Review of Japanese designed ionic electric toothbrush by Ion Sei.

I really ought to have written this review ages ago. I’ve been slogging away at a post graduate diploma in cosmetic medicine (as well as being preggo to the max, and the kids, job, podcast… I need my head read basically). The bonus is that I have been able to give the Ion Sei toothbrush a really good trial. My husband also has one, the company were awesome and sent me two to try. It’s really quite important that my bloke got one too because he is the one with the gum issues.

I am a dentist as well as a blogger, so I feel uniquely qualified to give the Ion Sei an accurate review. I’ve tried all the big hitters in the past- such as Oral-B, Sonicare, and I’m also quite fond of a manual toothbrush in the right hands. So I can compare the Ion Sei with those. This is naturally going to be not a very scientific study into the effectiveness of the toothbrush, I couldn’t find any unbiased published studies, if any come to light I will update. There have been a couple of experiments done by the company that shows that the toothbrush is capable of not just removing bacteria mechanically, but also killing it.

Here are the facts and figures-

• £129.99 from Amazon for the Ion Sei rechargeable toothbrush and £11.99 for the replacement heads
• Designed and manufactured in Japan and Germany
• Has a sleek aesthetic design
• Lightweight and easy to transport, charges via USB cable
• No need to use toothpaste
• Inhibits plaque formation and decay by creating bacteria suppressing ions
• Three modes of action- sensitive, standard and deep.
• Comes with a standard and soft brush head
• Uses a titanium core and UV LED light to create free radicals that damage decay causing bacteria

Ion Sei Sonic Ionic Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush Review

It does indeed look great as toothbrushes go, it comes in two colours- daylight white and lake blue. The Ion Sei comes with two brush heads- the soft and the standard. I much prefer the soft head to the standard, it seems to get in between the teeth more thoroughly. The soft bristles are finer and it feels gentler.

To review Ion Sei, I have to compare it to the other electric toothbrush heavy hitters. To my mind there are certain features that I need my toothbrush to sport-

• It needs to remove plaque fully and completely,
• Timed brushing,
• Gentle enough not to cause recession,
• Keeping charge for a decent amount of time.

My prior favourite toothbrush was the Oral B Genius. It has a round rotary head and does a great job of removing plaque, it also comes with technology that senses if you’re pressing too hard and flashes red. The Oral B also can connect with an app and can asses your brushing technique. Although I have to be honest, I never actually bothered to open the app. It’s quite an intense brush and there have been some reports of recession worsening.

I’ve had a couple of Phillips Sonicare toothbrushes in the past. They give quite a different feel of clean to manual or rotary brushes, you sort of have to go on trust that the sonic vibrations are cleaning properly. I stopped using my Sonicare because my gums started bleeding, which is a sign of gum ill health, I really didn’t feel that it was doing a good enough job.

The Ion Sei uses the same sonic technology as the Sonicare, but with the added bonus of patented plaque retarding UV LED/titanium technology. It feels very gentle, gentle to the point that you can’t believe that it’s working. But on running an exploratory tongue tip about after brushing I find my teeth are beautifully glassy and clean. This cleanness lasts for many hours.

I asked my husband for his verdict and typically he said “it’s good”, thanks for that love! On further probing he does say that he finds it very gentle and finds that he’s tempted to scrub with it. You’re not meant to use it like a manual toothbrush, but position it on the gums and move it around systematically, maintaining gum contact. He says that he doesn’t think his recession has improved (it’s not going to improve, once the gum is gone, it’s pretty much gone), but his bleeding has improved. We both agree that the charge seems to last weeks, definitely more than two.

What I Like About the Ion Sei Sonic Toothbrush-

• It looks great! very stylish and sleek design
• It comes with a stand that also stores extra heads, no more toothbrushes falling over and potentially breaking in the sink
• Has a time minute timer with 30 second spacing to remind you to move onto the next quarter of your mouth
• It has a comparable sonic action to the Sonicare (31,000 strokes per minute) and extra bacteria retarding technology
• It’s more gentle, less noisy and rattly than the Oral B, with less risk of causing recession.
• The charge lasts ages, this is excellent because I’ve been known to forget to do it and my toothbrush can remain chargeless for weeks
• The soft head helps clean in between the teeth (still use interdental brushes, there is no toothbrush that can replace this step)
• My husband feels that the Ion Sei has helped reduce his gum bleeding and is preventing recession

I’m a total convert to the Ion Sei sonic toothbrush and have used nothing else since it was delivered. If you’re struggling with dental disease like gum bleeding or recession, I think you could benefit by looking past the market leaders and trying this innovative toothbrush. It is a bit more expensive than the big brands £129.99 but I’ve seen top end electric toothbrushes costing more than £300 so it’s not a crazy price.

Ion Sei by Sanyei is available from Amazon. For more information on the technology used, head to Ion-Sei.com (I received these toothbrushes for review, the links are affiliate which means I receive a small percentage if you purchase at no cost to you, this helps support my blog)

For more dentistry on the blog, check out my review of Carbon Coco charcoal toothpaste