Everyone knows that teeth are important. I know it, you know it, and everyone down your road knows it. From a young age, we are told to hit the magical two-minute mark with a toothbrush, and not to neglect the back of our teeth in favour of simply having a brighter smile on the front. Despite all this knowledge, however, it can be a real pain to get into every nook and cranny and properly clean your teeth.
I, for one, regularly struggle to get a toothbrush right up into those corners. Traditional brushing would often see me focusing on the severity of brushing rather than trying to think about where I was targeting. With the new Philips Sonicare range, I have the tools I need to really improve my dental routine. The Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean toothbrushes have an arsenal of features that take any guesswork out of brushing; the brush head itself angled to make getting to the rear of your teeth easier. Inside the handle, the PressureSense technology is an excellent indicator of how hard you are brushing (something I really struggle with); feedback in the form of a short pulse letting you know that you’re a bit over-zealous in getting that tartar off. The pacer will get you to hit that magical 30-second mark on each quadrant and BrushSync technology lets you know when it’s time to replace your brush head. All I need to do now is get myself to the bathroom sink each morning. If that bathroom happens to be somewhere else around the world, the two weeks’ plus battery life will be an absolute godsend if you’re clocking up the air miles.
The Philips AirFloss Pro is a slightly different proposition entirely. I, for one, dread having to get the floss tape out and wrap it around my finger a hundred times to stop it slipping (ultimately cutting off the circulation). AirFloss does exactly what it says on the tin; shooting a mixture of air and mouthwash between the gaps in your teeth for a very clean finish. I love using this before the Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean brush to really clean up my gum line before brushing.
Philips were kind enough to supply me with two of each of the products; one for me to finally have a deep clean with, and one for me to gift to Grad (I couldn’t pronounce “Grandad” as a child so “Grad” has stuck as a name). Being a man in his Eighties (hope he doesn’t mind me writing that), there have certainly been near-NASA leaps in dental technology over his lifetime; he certainly reminisced about memories of having a communal family toothbrush with a tinned charcoal product a bit like a black soap bar instead of a minty fresh toothpaste in his youth! In return for imparting a bit of my own knowledge, I decided to ask him for a few tips that he had learned in his lifetime. I have put a few of my favourite quotes below, and you can watch our little chat and teeth-brushing session in the video at the end of this post…
My Grad On… Love
“Keeping it simple, and there is only one rule for a long lasting relationship… your wife is always right”
As the quote suggests, he only really had one response when I asked him about maintaining a long term relationship. As I would have guessed, your wife is always right and it’s sometimes just best to nod and agree or, when you are inevitably proved wrong, admit defeat.
My Grad On… Laughter
“It can be a little difficult to laugh every day, but you just have to try and see the positives in anything”
Grad has one of the wickedest senses of humour, and it’s never slowed down. Always one to crack a joke, I could definitely learn a thing or two about seeing the positives in any situation. Life hasn’t always been the easiest for him, but there’s always a smiling face when I call or visit and this is something I aspire to live by.
My Grandad On… Longevity
“Eat well and don’t neglect those fruits and carbohydrates”
Slightly ironic considering Grad was the man to challenge at the dinner table in my formative years. He would always manage to eat more than me, no matter how hard I tried, and then even double up on deserts without putting on any weight. He ran the 13-mile Great North Run nineteen times, with his last completed race coming well into his Seventies. Apparently lots of porridge is the key.
The Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean is available from Philips.co.uk, John Lewis, Boots and Amazon, RRP from £179.99.
The Philips AirFloss Pro is available from Philips.co.uk, John Lewis, Boots and Amazon, RRP from £80.
