The Oral-B Pro 1000 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush does all the most important things the best electric toothbrush needs to do, and does them extremely well. After testing a dozen different models with hands-on testing in 2023 and 2024, we recommend the Oral-B Pro 1000 as the top pick in our best electric toothbrushes review because it has a winning combination of ease-of-use, effective cleaning power and value. Other brushes offer multiple brushing modes and high-tech bells and whistles, but you may not need these extras if you’re just looking for a standard electric toothbrush.
Compared to the eleven other toothbrushes we tested throughout 2023 and 2024, the Pro 1000 stood out as the clear choice for most people. It was the easiest to grip, use and clean, with no learning curve or advanced features to master. If you’re looking for a top-of-the-line brush with features like app compatibility, however, you may prefer our best smart electric toothbrush pick, the Oral-B iO Series 7G. Read on for why the Oral-B Pro 1000 won as our top pick.
Oral-B Pro 1000 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush
Our score: 7 | Brush head: Round rotating | Special features: Timer, pressure sensor | Automatic timer shut-off: No | Extras: USB charger cord, extra brush head | Battery life: Two weeks from fully charged | App: No
Best for:
- Creating a daily brushing routine
- Having just enough extra features like a timer and pressure sensor
- Hitting the sweet spot between value and performance
Skip if:
- You’re looking for a smart toothbrush with app compatibility
- You need the quietest electric toothbrush
MORE FROMFORBES VETTED
Oral-B Pro 1000 Features
The Best Electric Toothbrush For Maintaining A Daily Routine
The Oral-B Pro 1000 provides just the basic features that an electric toothbrush needs, but what it does, it does incredibly well. All of the dental professionals we spoke to emphasized that the best electric toothbrush is the one that gets you to brush twice a day for two minutes, every single day. The ease of use, comfortable grip, pressure sensor, quadrant timer and great value that the Pro 1000 offers does a superlative job of removing barriers to establishing that routine.
There’s no guesswork involved with setting up this toothbrush: Take it out of the box, attach the brush head to the handle, press the “on” button, and you’re done. Everything is set up already to provide a great brushing experience, making it a breeze to get into a regular routine and to develop your technique.
With some of the more expensive, higher-tech brushes we tried, learning to use them felt overwhelming, similar to reading a car manual. In contrast, the Pro 1000 worked perfectly with minimal setup, although it was a bit noisier during use than some other electric toothbrushes we tested. This streamlined brush might work for you if you’re someone who has struggled with daily brushing in the past, or if you’re a parent trying to motivate kids or teens to brush their teeth more consistently.
A Great Pressure Sensor And Basic Timer
The Oral-B Pro 1000 offers three brushing modes (compared to the five modes on more advanced models we tested like the Oral-B iO Series 5 Electric Toothbrush and Oral-B iO Series 7G). Crucially, the brushing pressure wasn’t so aggressive as to cause pain in our tests (and that’s helpful if you have sensitive or receding gums). And the Oral-B Pro 1000 was just as comfortable, and left our teeth feeling just as clean, as other more expensive models we tested.
The Pro 1000 has just a few extras, but they’re enough to get the job done if you’re looking for the best electric toothbrush overall. The two features it offers, a timer and a pressure sensor, function well and are easy to understand.
The timer works by pulsing twice every thirty seconds to indicate that it’s time to change your brushing quadrant (one of four sections of your mouth), and then four times when two minutes has elapsed. Compared to some other electric toothbrushes we tested, this one doesn’t automatically shut-off after two minutes. Our 2024 tester preferred this feature for the opportunity to revisit any areas of the mouth without restarting the toothbrush’s cleaning cycle.
The pressure sensor automatically shuts off the brush’s pulsations if you press too hard while brushing. While the pressure sensor isn’t the most noticeable or intuitive out of all the brushes we tested, it still serves as a safeguard against over-brushing. These functions are effective and easy to understand and use, contributing to the Oral-B Pro 1000’s status as our top pick.
Effective Cleaning For The Price
When testing the Oral-B Pro 1000 in 2023 and again in 2024, we were consistently impressed by the thorough clean offered by the compact, round brush head. Our 2024 tester noted that it fits comfortably into tight spaces at the back of the mouth, and that the rotating brush head gives a satisfying just-polished feeling to teeth after the 2-minute brushing cycle. Compared to ultrasonic electric toothbrushes we tested that have an elongated, oblong brush head, we preferred the smaller size of this brush head for better access to all teeth surfaces.
It’s worth pointing out that most of the other toothbrushes that scored as high as (or in some cases slightly higher than) the Pro 1000 in ease of use, cleaning, portability and timer feature tests are between two to four times as expensive (around $90 - $200, compared to the Oral-B Pro 1000’s $50 price tag at time of publication). While some brushes performed slightly better in some of our tests, the differences were minimal and certainly not commensurate with the differences in price. This toothbrush serves a wide range of users for a great price and is easy to use and work into daily brushing routines, making it the winning option.
A Superior Design
One issue with many electric toothbrushes we tested is that the handle can get slippery during two minutes of brushing, and become difficult to grip or maneuver. We found that to be especially true of the Oral-B iO Series 5 and iO Series 7 toothbrushes, which created a lot of foam during use that inevitably found its way down the handle. By comparison, the Pro 1000’s handle has a ridged, indented back that made it one of the easiest and most comfortable to hold and it stayed drier during use.
It was also one of the easiest to clean compared to the other brushes we tested, which got gunked up with toothpaste residue. Our 2023 tester reported that she was able to fully clean the Oral-B Pro 1000 with one slapdash rinse, proving this toothbrush to be a perfect option for making something many of us do while still half-asleep feel easy. The charging base needs a weekly wipe-down to keep it free from residue, but that’s a simple task that doesn’t take much effort to complete.
Since you’ll reach for a brush many times a day, it’s ideal to get one you like to look at. This brush also scored well in aesthetics; both color options (black and white) are glossy, clean and unobtrusive, and the base sits nicely on a bathroom shelf or counter. (You can also find the brush in pastel green or pink at some third-party retailers).
How Does The Oral-B Pro 1000 Compare?
The Oral-B Pro 1000 won the best electric toothbrush overall on the merit of its cleaning power and ease of use. The Philips Sonicare 4100 is priced comparably but didn’t score as well for features, mainly because it has a more limited range of two brushing modes compared to three for the Oral-B Pro 1000. The Oral-B iO Series 5 Electric Toothbrush, which one as best upgrade, and the Oral-B iO Series 7G Electric Toothbrush, which won best smart electric toothbrush, cost much more for their high-tech features, but may be worth the investment if you want to level up your brushing game. The Pro-Sys VarioSonic won best for sensitive gums, but isn’t as intuitive or effective for basic brushing. For the most aesthetic toothbrush, we liked the Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige Electric Toothbrush. If you want the best battery powered electric toothbrush, we recommend the Quip Electric Toothbrush.
How We Tested The Best Electric Toothbrushes
We conducted hands-on testing of electric toothbrushes in 2023 and 2024, focusing on several criteria: Ease of use, effectiveness, portability, ease of cleaning, battery life, timer, pressure sensor, extra features and aesthetics. In each area, we compared each feature or quality against that of the other brushes.
After extensive research and expert interviews, we narrowed our testing pool to include eight toothbrushes in 2024. All the toothbrushes we tested except one have the ADA Seal of Acceptance, meaning that they’ve already passed rigorous tests administered by dental scientists to confirm their teeth-cleaning capabilities. (We did test the hum by Colgate electric toothbrush even though it isn’t on this list because it was a new and noteworthy product that we wanted to compare to ADA-approved brushes).
The best electric toothbrushes will motivate you to brush your teeth consistently. With that in mind, our testers incorporated each brush into their daily oral hygiene routines. Our testers spent two consecutive days brushing twice daily with each toothbrush to determine ease of use, and made copious notes on each feature. We compared how intuitive the brush was to use, how much set-up was required, how comfortable it was to brush with and how easy it was to hold while brushing. Additionally, we tested all special features offered on each brush and made note of how easy they were to use and understand, including functions like a timer setting, pressure sensor or app (when applicable).
Our Expertise
In 2024, Erica Puisis updated this article with additional testing and notes about the performance of the Oral-B Pro 1000. She has six years of experience as a writer and specializes in researching and testing home products and appliances. For Forbes Vetted, she recently updated a guide to the best electric toothbrushes, and her work has been published in The Spruce, MyDomaine and U.S. News and World Report.
In 2023, Helena Fitzgerald tested the Oral-B Pro 1000 and reported on the results for this piece. Over her 12-year journalism career, she has researched and reported on makeup, personal fragrance and fashion, as well as on food, drinks and cooking for publications including The Cut, Elle, Marie-Claire, Food52, and Food & Wine.
For this piece, she spoke with Dr. Ada Cooper, a National Spokesperson for the American Dental Association, and Dr. Sonya Krasilnikov of Dental House in New York to learn what makes a great electric toothbrush and why someone might want one.
What Is The Most Important Feature in An Electric Toothbrush?
The most important feature in an electric toothbrush is, quite simply, the one that will make you use it most often. Whether that’s a timer that does the work of measuring out two minutes for you, the softest possible brush head for sensitive gums or high-tech options that you can control through your smartphone depends entirely on your preferences.
The features our testers consistently found most useful while testing was a timer, especially one with an automatic shut-off. They also valued the feel of the brush head, the option for multiple brushing modes and the brushing feedback offered by some smart toothbrushes. Of these, the timer was far and away the most important, and made a genuine difference to brushing habits. Our 2023 tester reported that by taking the thinking and guesswork out of brushing for two minutes, a toothbrush timer changed their approach to dental hygiene.
The next most important feature is the brush head itself. There are many different types of brush heads, and different people will have different preferences for harder or softer bristles, round or oblong brush heads and side-to-side versus spinning motion. Dr Krasilnikov stressed that, although brands that make brushes with rotating heads or sonic heads might have different marketing, neither is recommended over the other by dentists or by the ADA. Both do an equally good job cleaning when combined with good brushing technique and a consistent routine.
The options to try different brushing modes, and the smart toothbrush’s feedback on brushing technique were both more fun than important. Our 2023 tester reported that these extra features helped motivate a more consistent brushing routine. Figuring out what types of features will motivate you to use a toothbrush consistently is among the most important things to consider when choosing a toothbrush.
Do I Need An Electric Toothbrush With Multiple Brushing Modes Or A Smart Brush?
The short answer here? No. A toothbrush like the Oral-B Pro 1000 will do everything you need a toothbrush to do, and does those things as well or better than brushes that have high-tech features and multiple brushing modes. A great electric toothbrush should be easy to hold, easy to clean and have a good timer feature. Beyond that, everything else is extra. If reminders and feedback from a smart toothbrush’s connected app are what will make sure you brush twice a day, then you may want a smart brush like the Oral-B iO Series 7G.
But if none of these concerns speak to you and you just want to establish and maintain good dental hygiene habits, the Oral-B Pro 1000 is the best electric toothbrush we found over two years of testing.
How Do I Clean My Electric Toothbrush?
Detach the brush head from the handle, which shouldn’t take much effort. Run the brush head under the tap in the sink, making sure to rinse between the bristles until all toothpaste residue is gone. Wipe down the brush head and set it to the side to dry. Wipe down the handle carefully with a wet washcloth, making sure to carefully clean around the inner edge where the brush head connects and where toothpaste residue can tend to get stuck, then dry the handle with a dry towel. You should only need water for this, and the process should be quick and easy. Only re-attach the brush head when both pieces are dry. A good toothbrush will look essentially unused and free of any residue after this simple process.