The Philips Sonicare Flexcare electric toothbrush features some of the best toothbrushes with a range of exciting features. In this Philips Sonicare FlexCare review, you’ll learn about the options and functions available to make brushing your teeth a pleasure. More importantly, this also helps achieve excellent oral hygiene.
So what electric toothbrush model belong to the Philips Sonicare FlexCare line?
The Philips Sonicare FlexCare family of toothbrushes feature the following models:
- FlexCare,
- FlexCare+
- and FlexCare Platinum Connected
You will find the Flexcare models share some features while having their unique differences.
If you need to make a quick buying decision here are 3 important questions that will help you decide whether to buy a Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush.
If you want more details, read the entire Philips Sonicare FlexCare review below.
1. Is there a serious flaw in the Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush?
No, there isn’t anything that is seriously wrong with this toothbrush line.
In fact, the Philips Sonicare FlexCare models are great at cleaning teeth well, have a long battery life and offer several cleaning modes to suit individual needs of the users.
2. What alternate models are worth considering instead of the Philips Sonicare Flexcare?
A good alternative to the Philips Sonicare Flexcare is the Sonicare ProtectiveClean 5100.
While the two have a lot of common features the ProtectiveClean is a more recent model. It has a pressure sensor which is an important feature to prevent exerting too much pressure on teeth and gums while brushing. It also has the brush head replacement alert.
But if you’re in search of a decent electric toothbrush with many excellent features at an affordable price, the Philips Sonicare FlexCare is an excellent choice.
3. Where to buy a Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush?
There are several options when it comes to buying the Philips Sonicare Flexcare electric toothbrush. There are online retailers like Amazon.com
You can also buy this at offline retailers like Target and Walmart.
Depending on which specific model of Philips Sonicare Flexcare you want to buy and other requirements you might find what the model you want either in the online or offline stores.
It is generally known that Amazon.com is one of the biggest online retailers and can offer larger and special discounts from time to time.
These are unmatched by offline retailers except during special promotions such as Black Friday or clearance sales.
The reason for bigger discount by online retailers is that they don’t have to pay huge rents for showrooms or pay staff to man them. These savings are passed on to you the customer.
Now a quick look at the pros and cons of in this Philips Sonicare Flexcare electric toothbrush review.
Pros:
- Pick from a choice of multiple cleaning mode options
- Inbuilt timer for 2-minute dentist recommended brushing time
- Quadpacer for 30-second reminder to move to other quadrants, ensuring complete cleaning
- Long battery life
- Travel case to store and easily carry it along on trips.
Cons:
- Unexciting design
- Not all Flexcare models have pressure sensor
What’s in The Box?
- Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush
- AdaptiveClean brush head (1) and DiamondClean brush head (1)
- Charging station
- Travel case
- User manual
Before proceeding with the detailed Philips Sonicare Flexcare review here’s a brief look at the features that are common among all the Sonicare toothbrushes.
These features are the reason for the wild popularity of the Philips Sonicare brand of electric toothbrushes in the market today.
Key Features
- 31,000 movements per minute
- 4 cleaning modes to choose: Clean, White, Gum Health and Sensitive
- Rechargeable battery with excellent life
- Inbuilt timer with Quadpacer
- Auto power off saves battery life
- Comes with travel case
Philips Sonicare Flexcare Review: Performance
Sonicare Flexcare Brushing Modes
Philips Sonicare FlexCare delivers 31,000 brushstrokes per minute at its highest setting and every Sonicare model delivers this level of brushing performance.
This helps clean teeth effectively. This is in fact the most important feature as it directly impacts oral health and hygiene.
Philips Sonicare Flexcare Battery
Sonicare toothbrush models use lithium-ion rechargeable cell.
This is a long-lasting and easily recharged battery. You’ll get the charging station included when you purchase a Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush.
The battery technology is so advanced that it fits into the slim handle of the Philips Sonicare Flexcare toothbrush. This slim battery design is the reason for the ultra-sleek looks of the Philips Sonicare Flexcare toothbrushes.
It is light-weight and easy to use.
Extra Features of Philips Sonicare Flexcare
The inbuilt Smart timer function is one. It alerts you at the end of a two-minute period that the brushing time of 2-minutes is up. This is a dentist-recommended time for effective cleaning of teeth.
It also has the QuadPacer alarm which alerts you when it’s time to switch from one quadrant of the mouth to the next every 30 seconds. This ensures equal attention to all teeth and every part of the mouth.
While these features seem superfluous at first glance, they help regulate your brushing routines, forcing you to pay equal attention to all areas of the mouth.
Children especially can get easily distracted. These two features can keep them focussed on their brushing. All it takes is 2 minutes for the perfect cleaning and plaque removal.
Philips Sonicare Flexcare Easy Start
Philips Sonicare FlexCare EasyStart is the reason why many first-time electric toothbrush users go on to become permanent electric toothbrush users.
If the first-time user experiences the full power of the brush at 31,000 strokes it can be jarring and uncomfortable.
But with Easy Start, over 15 days the brushing intensity slowly and steadily increases and you steadily get used to the sensation of brushing with a sonic toothbrush.
After a week of brushing on a low-intensity mode you can shift to higher intensity and eventually to power-brushing mode or whatever mode is suitable for your needs.
Philips Sonicare Flexcare Brush Heads
It is very simple to change brush heads on Philips Sonicare FlexCare toothbrush handles as you just have to Snap-On the brush head. You can use any compatible Sonicare brush head other the two that come with your particular model.
The cross-compatibility offers a great convenience as children can use brush heads that are smaller in size while adults use the bigger sized heads – with the same handle.
Another advantage is that if you suffer from tooth sensitivity or gum irritation problems you can choose suitable brush heads instead of sticking to the ones supplied by the company with this model.
Advantages of Philips Sonicare FlexCare Electric Toothbrush
1. There are 4 different cleaning modes to choose from for different types of users especially those with particular needs.
2. Three weeks of battery life for regular usage of 2 minutes twice a day.
3. Two-minute timer and Quadpacer ensures correct amount of brushing time per day and also the even cleaning of all quadrants.
4. A solid and sturdy travel case ensures compact and safe packing when traveling. The case lets you store two brush heads and a brush handle.
5. Easy Start and automatic power off features improve the user experience significantly
Disadvantages of the Sonicare FlexCare
1. Very ordinary in design and looks. It comes in just two colors – black or white.
2. Not all Flexcare Sonicare toothbrush models have the pressure sensor. This is a deficiency as users can press too hard causing damage to their teeth enamel or gums.
3. No Bluetooth connectivity which you can use to track or chart your brushing by connecting to an app.
Philips Sonicare Flexcare Electric Toothbrush Review
Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum toothbrush was the star of the Philips Sonicare brand until recently when it got upstaged by the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart electric toothbrush.
It has over 22 million very satisfied customers who rave about its excellent performance and features that many other electric toothbrush models don’t have.
Several studies done over the years have proven time and again that electric toothbrushes remove more dental plaque than manual toothbrush.
The Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush is exceptionally good at cleaning the teeth by direct brushing.
But even better is the pressure wave created by the vibrating head of the Philips Sonicare Flexcare toothbrush that delivers complete cleaning in areas where even you brush head or the bristles can’t reach.
This is why cleaning is better in the gaps between the teeth, gum line and in spaces beyond your last molars.
Sonicare Flexcare electric toothbrush: Benefits
There are several unique advantages to using the Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush.
Non-contact Brushing
Brushing with Philips Sonicare FlexCare toothbrush does not always happen by physical brushing or contact. It happens through combination of the brush strokes and vibrations set off by the vibrating head and the rapid movements of the bristles.
Due to the high pressure created in the mouth the fluid is forced between your teeth and along your gum line. This weakens the plaque attached to the tooth surfaces and removes it through a gradual process of attrition over a few weeks of using this toothbrush.
It also prevents the fresh build-up of new plaque by reducing bacterial count in the mouth.
Removes Stains on Teeth
The Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum toothbrush is great at removing stains from teeth.
Using it regularly can get rid of even the most persistent stains, leaving your teeth whiter in just 4 weeks. Stains formed due to drinking coffee, smoking or consuming wine can be removed by using this electric toothbrush.
UV Sanitizer for Brush heads
An ultraviolet sanitizer is part of the charging unit and many Philips Sonicare FlexCare reviews are absolutely delighted with this feature.
They say that it reduces the bacteria count in the brush head. But we really don’t know if this delivers any benefit towards your overall oral health.
So don’t buy the toothbrush based on only this factor. It’s a nice extra to have but in our opinion not the deciding factor.
Timers
When users are polled on how much time they spend brushing every day most overestimate the duration. But most brush for much less than the dentist-recommended two minutes.
With an inbuilt timer you won’t have to guess how much time you are actually brushing The timer of the Philips Sonicare FlexCare will go off at exactly two minutes ensuring you brush for the required time.
While brushing too long or hard is harmful for your enamel and gums, under-brushing doesn’t remove plaque effectively.
With inbuilt timer and Quadpacer functionality, all these problems are eliminated. Combined with the QuadPacer, the timer is a powerful tool as it ensures even distribution of cleaning efficiency.
The pacer divides the available time in 30 second slots and indicates to you at the end of 30 seconds to move to next quadrant ensuring an even clean.
Easy Start
Brand new users of Philips Sonicare Flexcare toothbrush (or any electric toothbrush for that matter) is going to be surprised and slightly disconcerted in the beginning.
All the different sensations that these toothbrushes generate in your mouth are unfamiliar and uncomfortable, as we aren’t yet used to the vibrations and swift bristle movements.
The vibrating brush head and the fluid jets generated can feel uncomfortable in the beginning.
But with Easy Start this problem is sorted out as it lets you to begin at a much lower speed setting. This helps ease you into a completely new way of brushing.
After almost a week of this slow familiarisation process where the brush handle slowly increases the intensity of brushing to maximum power in two weeks which helps in the most efficient clean.
Pressure Sensors Help Avoid Damage
With electric toothbrushes there is the danger that you press too hard and cause damage to tooth enamel, sensitive gum and teeth.
With the Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum model, this danger is reduced thanks to a pressure sensor. The technology makes the brush handle vibrate gently when you press too hard against the gums or teeth.
The presence of pressure sensor makes it safe to use Philips Sonicare Flexcare Platinum toothbrush even when you have gum disease, sensitive teeth, dental fillings, braces or veneers.
Philips Sonicare FlexCare Review : Design and Ease of Use
The Philips Sonicare FlexCare has classy looks but nothing that will win it designer awards.
It is light and slender enough to fit comfortably in your hands. Materials used are of good quality and don’t feel tacky or cheap.
The front part of the handle has the Sonicare logo and right below you will find the following buttons.
- On/Off button
- Button to switch between modes
- LEDs to indicate battery charge status and mode
Right at the bottom of the brush handle is the recess into which the prong of the charging station fits in.
Rubberized handle helps get a good grip while brushing. The handle encloses a Lithium-ion battery and motor in a watertight seal.
A metal shaft links the motor to the brush head and for transmission of instructions through the use of different buttons.
There are three cleaning modes to select from and two options for brushing routines in the Philips Sonicare FlexCare electric toothbrush.
The cleaning modes are –
- Clean,
- White and
- Massage.
Just use the mode selector button to cycle through the options. The brushing routines are Go Care and Max Care.
In the Go Care routine the brushing cycle lasts one minute. And the QuadPacer gives off alerts every 15 seconds.
While the Max Care routine lasts for 3 minutes and is useful to achieve both a thorough cleaning and massage. In this second longer routine the QuadPacer signals every 45 seconds.
- When running in the standard Clean mode, the food debris is removed and so is plaque.
- In the Massage mode the brush gently presses the gums to help improve blood flow and prevent further damage to sensitive teeth and gums.
- The White mode combines 2 minutes of Clean mode plus an added 30 seconds of vigorous cleaning action for teeth whitening.
Summary of Design and Usability
- Choice of 3 different cleaning modes with 2 routines
- Separate Power button and Cleaning mode buttons
- Very effective in plaque removal and cleaning teeth
- 2 brush heads included
- Inbuilt timer and quad pacer
- Not all models have pressure sensor
- No Bluetooth connectivity
- Travel case
- Easy Start helps first-time users get used to electric toothbrushes
- Automatic power off helps save battery life
- Battery lasts 3 weeks on a single recharge
- 2-year warranty is standard
Philips Sonicare Brush Settings
There are 3 choices in intensity settings – Low, Medium and High. You can cycle through the settings by pressing the button repeatedly.
Battery will depend on the intensity level you choose to operate the brush. At the highest settings and longer run times it will run out faster.
Philips Sonicare FlexCare battery last 3 weeks on single recharge which is good even for a busy traveller.
Most people will use the ‘Clean‘ mode setting with a Philips Sonicare Flexcare. White mode helps remove persistent stains on the surface of teeth, leaving them whiter and shinier over the course of a few weeks of use.
‘Gum Care’ mode is a gentle mode suited for those suffering from gingivitis and gum disorders. It gently massages the gum to improve blood circulation and speed up healing from infections.
Sonicare Flexcare Brush Heads
When you buy the Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum toothbrush the InterCare brush head is supplied with your toothbrush.
It has bristles designed to remove plaque from teeth and improve gum health through gentle massaging action.
Brush heads come in suitable sizes for children and adults. The Mini brush heads are suitable for those with jaw problems – those who can’t open it fully or those with small mouths.
Replace the brush heads every 3 months. A visual feedback is provided by the bristles which gradually lose their color to indicate that it is time to replace the brush head.
Philips Sonicare Flexcare Review : In A Nutshell
- It is a rechargeable sonic toothbrush. It comes in Platinum Gray (HX9172/15 and HX9112/13) or Slate Gray (HX9112/12) colors
- Dentists recommend this toothbrush as it is highly effective at cleaning teeth and removing plaque
- The SmartTimer ensures minimum 2-minute cleaning requirement is met, and a QuadPacer helps switch between different quadrants of the mouth for uniform cleaning.
- In the power-brushing mode the high rate of 31,000 brush strokes per minute actually causes cleaning at a distance. The impact reaches deep between the gaps of the teeth and removing plaque even from areas that are out of direct contact of the brush head
- The HX9172 model has an inbuilt UV sanitizer in the charging stand. It makes your brush head bacteria free.
Final Conclusion
Today the Philips Sonicare DiamondClean Smart has become flagship model.
Before that, the Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum rechargeable electric toothbrush was the most popular electric toothbrush models from the Sonicare company as it delivers a pleasant but effective cleaning experience.
Every Philips Sonicare Flexcare Platinum electric toothbrush review will affirm that it is highly effective in removing plaque and cleaning teeth.
Even dentists recommend it because of the effectiveness at massaging gums and removing stains. Although the price is slightly higher than mid-range models, the features it offers make it a great value for money buy.
You can probably find Philips Sonicare FlexCare Platinum at a discount on retail price by waiting for special offers and deals offered on e-commerce stores like Amazon.