Allen Dentist, Dr. Mentesana answers the question, "why should I use an electric toothbrush?"

Why should I use an electric toothbrush

Most people by now realize that they must brush their teeth everyday to take care of them, but what many people still don't know is that not all toothbrushes are equal. If you think about it in terms of cleaning, removing the plaque off of the many nooks and crannies can be a challenge. To make it worse, if 100% of the plaque is not removed, it turns to a mineralized tartar, much like a hard water stain in the bathtub that must be scraped off or it will cause gum disease. So, it is very important to remove as much of the plaque as possible each day. If you are using a manual tooth brush that means spending time, much more time than you realize, in order to be completely thorough and remove the maximum amount of plaque. If an electric toothbrush is used, it makes thousands of tiny movements that quickly and effectively can break apart the plaque that is organized on the tooth. This shortens the amount of time that is needed to brush.  Since most people brush their teeth habitually, and don't really think about how long or how thorough they are being, using the most efficient method usually ensures you are doing the best job possible. First hand experience as a dentist shows me that people who had gingivitis and more tartar buildup that were previously using a manual toothbrush made improvements when changing to an electric tooth brush.