About a year ago, I was instructed by my dentist to switch to an electric toothbrush.

While I have healthy teeth, they’re prone to cavities, and my dentist felt I needed to take my oral hygiene to the next level.

For a year now, I’ve been using the most basic tier-one Oral-B electric toothbrush, until I upped my game and got the Oral-B Genius X with AI electric toothbrush.

To put this shift into perspective, I went from driving a beat-up, dinky 2005 Honda Civic, to cruising in a Lamborghini. Yes, the Oral-B Genus X with AI is most definitely the Lamborghini of toothbrushes.

AI helps improve brushing

The first thing you’ll need to do is download the Oral-B app on your phone to sync the toothbrush. The app generates your profile and saves each brushing session.

The sessions tell you a lot about your brushing habits. Irene Iancu from the Oral-B team explained that this new model includes two sensors that send the location and orientation of the brush to the user’s smartphone via Bluetooth.

“The AI algorithm in the smartphone app then identifies from the brush sensor where people brush and displays this in real-time. This enables Oral-B to reveal spots that have not been brushed properly, areas that have been over-brushed and then provides brushing recommendations,” said Iancu during a recent interview.

This particular algorithm has learned from thousands of human brushings.

Iancu went on to explain that Oral-B recognized that it wanted to create a toothbrush that helped users understand how to improve their oral hygiene in the way their dentists were asking them to. Unfortunately, not a lot of people know how to brush their teeth properly, she said, and this brush aims to help users improve their technique.

“Oral-B knows that people do not brush the way their dentist recommends. They do not brush long enough, or they brush unevenly — not giving enough attention to some areas of the mouth,” she said. “The brand understands that people do not want to be told how to brush their teeth, so it developed a toothbrush with Artificial Intelligence technology that recognizes brushing styles to help users improve their brushing habits.”

Each session is measured at two minutes, which is typically how long your dentist will recommend you brush your teeth for.

Now, think of your mouth split into four quadrants, the brush will vibrate after you spend brushing for 30 seconds on each quadrant of your mouth.

Sleek look and feel

If you’ve never used an electric toothbrush, then please do yourself a favour and go buy one now.

In particular, the Oral-B Genius X’s body is very similar to other models in the line — the body is sleek and easy to hold. It’s worth noting that with the basic version of the toothbrush if I wasn’t careful about drying the device after using it, the chances of it getting it dirty were very strong. Gunk can easily accumulate around the stand that the toothbrush sits on to charge.

That being said, with this model I was particularly careful in drying the brush after use and have noticed that it has remained clean and intact.

Six modes

Unlike the basic model, the Genius X comes with six different modes for brushing: ‘Daily Clean,’ ‘Gum Care,’ ‘Sensitive,’ ‘Whitening,’ ‘Pro Clean’ and ‘Tongue Cleaner.’

I mainly stuck with Daily Clean, Whitening and Tongue Cleaner.

Each mode has different cycles and oscillations. The Daily Clean lasts for two minutes, Whitening for two minutes and 20 seconds, and Tongue Cleaner lasts 20 seconds.

Every morning and night I used the Daily Clean mode and then would do the Tongue Cleaner mode. About twice a week I switched to the Whitening mode.

There is no way I could go a day without flossing, mainly because if I did I know my dentist would have a fit. That said, I did notice a lot less plaque and buildup while using the brush.

Carrying case for comfort and ease

In the past month, I’ve travelled quite a bit as well for work. The Genius X comes with a special carrying case that also charges your brush. Not only did I really appreciate this, but it was a lot more hygienic travelling with my brush.

There is a lot that can be said about this toothbrush. It’s effortless to use, and incredibly helpful in understanding your personal brushing habits. It’s also very stylish.

The one thing I found a bit challenging was working with the app in some situations. If you have the app open while you’re brushing your teeth it times you and your brush won’t vibrate when you have to switch quadrants. This means you have to pay attention to the timer on the app and make sure you switch over every 30 seconds.

Putting that aside, though, I still think the Oral-B Genius X with AI is worth its price tag.

The brush is pretty pricey, but I honestly would spend all my money on it. On Best Buy Canada, the brush costs $221.98 CAD with free shipping as a holiday deal. It comes in several colours, including ‘White,’ ‘Black,’ ‘Orchid Purple,’ ‘Sakura Pink’ and ‘Anthracite Black.’