How often should I replace my toothbrush?
Well, it’s recommended to change your toothbrush every 3 months. For someone who brushes their teeth very aggressively or bites down on the brush, or for someone who uses an electric toothbrush, it may need to be even sooner. Many companies put colors on the brush bristles that will fade with time to remind us to change the colors. By also just looking at the bristles, if they are frayed or bent, the brush should be changed. By not changing brushes often, you decrease the efficiency of the brush leading to an accumulation of plaque and bacteria that can cause mouth disease and/or bad breath. It’s also recommended to change your toothbrush if you’ve recently been sick.
Did you know?
Bamboo toothbrushes actually use a lot of water and are nto as ecologically friendly as we think.
So why does it matter?
We only use a small portion of the toothbrush, the portion that goes in our mouth. The other part of the brush is the handle used to manipulate the bristles over our teeth. Despite this, we throw away the entire toothbrush every few months, creating a lot of unnecessary plastic waste. The solution: REUSE THE HANDLE. Electric toothbrushes work like this, where you change just the end of the toothbrush every few months, but did you know there are many companies that do this for manual toothbrushes as well (and for a much better price than the $20 replacements for electric toothbrushes). Here is just a short list of a few companies I found you could try out.
CANADA
If you don’t like brushing with bamboo (guilty…), I highly recommend NADA toothbrush. The Canadian company uses sleek aluminum handles with soft bristle brushes that even come with a tongue scraper. The handle is flat, so it can sit right on a surface, and is slightly heavy, making it feel less cheap. The colors available to choose from are beautiful and modern. There’s even models for the whole family, with child toothbrushes available too. One of my favorite perks about NADA is their recycling program. When you buy their products, they send you an envelope where you can put in your used toothbrush heads and they recycle them for you! (Using TerraCycle) They also offer a money-back guarantee and a lifetime warranty on their toothbrush. Plus, if you subscribe to receive toothbrush heads every year, you can save 25% on the cost. They are also one of the only companies I found that offers very large packages of toothbrush heads (up to 16!). Their packaging is also fully paper. No Plastic!
CANADA
Etee is another Canadian company that makes toothbrushes with exchangeable heads but these are made with bamboo. I never tried them but if the feel of bamboo in your mouth doesn’t bother you, you could give them a try. You will pay a hefty fee for shipping though. They also sell other eco-friendly products so make sure to check them out.
CANADA
Plantish also makes bamboo toothbrushes with changeable heads but for a little less expensive than Etee. They are only available in Canada but offer an inexpensive choice for those comfortable using bamboo toothbrushes.
USA
Although I’m not inclined to support a brand where 99% of their products are unsustainable and has one product that is as if to appear “green” (is that what we call “greenwashing”?), this looks like a pretty good alternative to colgate’s other toothbrushes and may be more easily accessible. You can buy it on amazon and probably even in stores. Another cool thing is the handle is made of aluminum, making it less plastic and also more durable. The heads can be recycled with TerraCycle. However, I wish Colgate would discontinue all of its other models and just sell this kind of toothbrush.
USA
This brand makes quirky shaped toothbrushes with disposable heads and reusable handles. I’ve never heard of this company before but their ergonomic design apparently makes it more comfortable and cleans better. They even have different models for right handed and left handed people The family company is also woman owned. They also sell models for children.
New Zealand
This is a New Zealand product but they look like a mash up of NADA and Etee. They use an aluminum handle but have bamboo heads. They also come in at the LEAST EXPENSIVE of all the brushes with refills at only $2.16 CAD per head. But if you live anywhere other than New Zealand you’ll pay a pretty penny for shipping ($21 CAD in my case).
USA
These toothbrushes got their start thanks to kickstarter. They have a unique slim modern design with a stainless steel handle and an elastomer head that is recyclable. They also sell other accessories such as a modern toothbrush holder. These create the least amount of waste BY FAR with the heads being the smallest on the market that I have ever seen. They offer family bundles that allow you to save the more you buy but can only buy refills in pack of 4 heads. Shipping to Canada is also quite pricy but offer free shipping on order over $50 USD (so if you’re buying for the whole family or bulk buy for a few years you’ll easily reach that amount).
Price Comparison
Table 1: Summary
I didn’t find it fair to compare prices of bamboo versus non-bamboo because the bamboo is obviously less expensive but also just less nice to use. That’s the reason I decided to analyze them separately. See Table 2 for full results.
| Not bamboo | Bamboo |
| Radius was by far the most expensive, especially considering the price to ship to Canada. Bulk ordering for several years allows you to benefit from the free shipping. They have only 2 head packages to buy from and the initial handle bundle comes with just 1 brush. Singular Care was also quite pricy but had a starter bundle with 5 heads and head replacements came in packages of 4 making them affordable to change. Being able to benefit from the free shipping by bulk ordering made it a good deal. NADA and Colgate came pretty close but because NADA brush heads are cheaper, in the long run, NADA would beat Colgate as the cheapest option. | Plantish was by far the cheapest bamboo option even with the 7.99 shipping and only selling refills in packages of 2 heads. Reusable Thing and Etee were both quite expensive but at least Reusable Thing does have an aluminum handle, making it feel less cheap and probably would last longer. Reusable thing also has the cheapest refill heads, just an unfortunate shipping fee. |
Table 2: Cost comparison
- Starter pack is the bundle with the handle
- Cost per brush is the bundle divided by the number of replacement heads come with the initial order to emulate the cost per toothbrush of the initial order
- 4 years of ordering 1x per year is the cost of buying the initial bundle and then buying the number of replacements heads to suffice for the year (4/year)
- Ordering 4 years of stock is ordering the starter pack with the handle as well as up to 16 heads to cover 4 years of brushing teeth. This takes advantage of paying shipping only once as well as benefiting from free ship[ping which is not possible with 1 years supply of toothbrush heads.
Conclusion
NADA was the first brand that I found that sold this type of product and I very quickly went for it. I was super happy with my purchase but always wondered if I had done enough research before committing. But after doing this research I think I made the right choice. I love the look and feel of NADA’s brushes, as well as really support their recycling program and money-back/lifetime guarantees. They even changed the handle at some point but continued to send out old heads to the people who had that old handle, which shows customer loyalty. I had a problem ordering once and called the customer support on a Sunday evening (8pm) and someone answered the phone. I highly support them and encourage you to give them a try. FYI, I just bought head refills (8) and it cost me $31. That’s under $4 per brush and it’s better than any brush I’ve every bought from the pharmacy.
POLL: Do you have an issue with bamboo toothbrushes?
POLL: Which toothbrush do you want to try the most?
References
(1) CNBC
(2) Real Simple