Waterpik SF-02 Electric Toothbrush & Water Flosser Review

You will, perhaps, have noticed in our full overview that Waterpik’s Aquarius includes a toothbrush head. That, unfortunately, is nothing more than an ordinary toothbrush that happens to squirt out a small jet of high-pressure water. As anyone who’s ever used one will tell you, a toothbrush that vibrates by itself, especially in multiple directions, works much better and leaves your teeth feeling much cleaner.

This water flosser from the same manufacturer, as well as the Atmoko (review here), actually combines the effectiveness of a sonic electric toothbrush with water flossing for the ultimate in dental health convenience. You may switch between brushing and flossing mode, or activate both at the same time. Most people will prefer to brush normally, with toothpaste, first and then switch to either the flossing or dual-mode setting.

The Pros and Cons of Multitasking

Unfortunately, you will not get the best possible result by brushing and flossing simultaneously: water flossing really requires that you carefully guide the stream along your gumline to work, not just run it across the surface of your teeth. The water jet is emitted from the center of the brush head, so it will indeed help to polish the surfaces and rinse out the gaps, but you won’t be able to cut the time you spend on your teeth in half this way.

It’s also a bit of a hassle to use a toothbrush with a hose (about 30″/75 cm) attached while hunching over the sink to prevent toothpaste water from splashing everywhere. You can disconnect this, at which point you basically have a highly overpriced electric toothbrush instead of a dual-function device.

It’s therefore recommended that you use the powered toothbrush as just that, perhaps give your mouth a quick once-over with both the brush and the water jet activated, then finish by flossing like you would with a normal power flosser.

Odds and Ends

The brush handle sits in the main unit to charge instead of being linked to it with an electrical cord. In case you need to take it with you on a trip, you’ll be glad to have the hard, clear travel case for the toothbrush and handle. The main unit housing the pump and water reservoir can run on either 110 or 230 volts for traveling, but at about 5″ x 5″ x 11″ and two pounds (13 x 13 x 28 cm and 0.8 kg), you’ll most likely prefer to leave it at home. The toothbrush part, when fully charged, should last you about a week.

One cool feature of this toothbrush/flosser combination is that it incorporates a timer to help you verify that you are actually brushing your teeth for the recommended 2 minutes per session. It also notifies you when it’s time to move to a new area of your mouth by briefly pausing the brushing action.

Very Neat, But Worth the Price?

This is certainly a quality product; in addition to the ADA’s seal of acceptance, it boasts a 3-year warranty. It costs quite a bit, though, and replacement brush heads, while not unreasonably priced for sonic types, further push up the total cost of the unit over its lifespan.

Especially at this price, it may be easier to simply get two separate gadgets for brushing and flossing, even though this might end up occupying more space in your bathroom. Considering that you’ll have to buy any dedicated pick heads for this machine separately (and it’s not even clear if compatible nozzles are ever going to be available in any case), and there are better sonic toothbrushes available, it’s debatable just how much time you can save by combining brushing and flossing.