The Best Electric Toothbrush for Kids

For children using an electric toothbrush for the first time—or for anyone who prefers gentler vibrations and is okay with doing some manual brushing to achieve a complete cleaning—we think the Quip Kids is a great choice.

Although using an electric toothbrush is not guaranteed to reduce dental issues, experts say a powered brush can make it easier for some kids to achieve good oral health habits.

More than half of all children in the US will develop a dental cavity by roughly the third grade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A proper-size brush head can help kids more effectively brush all of their teeth—including the rear molars, which can be hard to reach in smaller mouths.

Our pick

Quip Kids

A great starter brush

This AAA-battery-powered toothbrush has a two-minute timer and a manageable brush head and handle. And it’s the quietest, lightest, gentlest, and most aesthetically pleasing of the brushes we’ve tested. It’s a great choice for kids learning to use a powered brush or anyone who prefers less-powerful vibrations.

Buying Options

$25

from

Quip

$25

from

Walmart

The AAA-battery-operated, vibrating Quip Kids toothbrush has the primary features our experts said a children’s brush needs: a smaller brush head and handle. These make it easier for young kids (or adults) to manipulate the brush and reach small spaces in the back of the mouth. This is the quietest,  lightest, and—importantly—gentlest brush we’ve tested, and it impressed our kid testers, who had various levels of experience with using an electric toothbrush. The Quip Kids toothbrush is also one of the most affordable electric toothbrushes we tested (replacement brush heads are about $5 apiece, if you sign up to receive a new brush head every three months). The built-in, two-minute timer helps with encouraging kids to brush for the amount of time recommended by leading dental associations. We also like that the Quip Kids comes in simple, solid colors, which we think give the brush wider appeal than those that come only in limited character or cartoon themes. The Quip Kids brush runs on replaceable batteries, instead of recharging on a base unit. But we think this is a worthwhile trade-off, especially for an introductory toothbrush with powered assist. 

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If you want a kids electric toothbrush that recharges by plugging into a base (rather than relying on replaceable batteries), the Philips Sonicare for Kids is a good option. Like the Quip Kids, it vibrates, and it also has a built-in two-minute-timer. Unlike the Quip, its vibrations do much of the “brushing” action. This model pairs via Bluetooth with a fun and robust interactive app, which could be helpful for kids who need encouragement to brush. The Sonicare has a much longer, heavier brush handle than the Quip (it’s effectively adult-sized) and larger brush heads (though you can buy compact-sized replacement heads), so it may be too big for younger kids. The Sonicare comes in only two colors (pink and aqua), but it can be customized with stickers.

Also great

Oral-B Kids

Another powerful, rechargeable brush

The rechargeable Oral-B Kids has a small rotating brush head. The body of this electric toothbrush is a bit larger than that of our pick, but our kid testers still found it easy to manipulate. However, it is significantly noisier, and it doesn’t sync wirelessly to an app.

Buying Options

$30

* from

Amazon

*At the time of publishing, the price was $35 .

If your child doesn’t like the sensations produced by a vibrating toothbrush (which can feel unpleasant or ticklish to some), the rotating Oral-B Kids is an appropriately sized choice that spins instead of vibrates, though it is noisier than the Quip and the Sonicare brushes. This brush is a bit larger than the Quip, but it’s  smaller than the Sonicare. Like the Sonicare, the Oral-B Kids brush recharges by plugging into a base, and at about $5 apiece, its replacement heads are among the more affordable of those we tested. (Quip replacement heads are also $5, if you subscribe to receive them every three months. Sonicare replacement heads are around $10 each.) Like the Quip and Sonicare brushes, the Oral-B Kids brush has a two-minute timer, and it comes in a plain blue version as well as in several character themes, including Frozen and Star Wars. There’s no option to sync wirelessly to an app, which may be a pro or a con, depending on your needs and preferences.