The benefits of an electric brush on a budget
The Oral-B Pro 100 is easy to hold and looks good. It makes brushing easier and can achieve good results.
The included travel case is a surprising but welcome addition. It packs a punch for the price, but there are compromises.
Simple to use 1 cleaning mode |
No 30 second pacer |
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A small round brush head reaches tighter spaces |
No pressure sensor |
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Grippy handle |
Short battery life & no feedback on remaining power |
Also worth considering
If you can stretch your budget, the Pro 2 2000 from Oral-B is in our opinion a better brush all things considered. It's our top recommendation in our list of best electric toothbrushes.
The motor is configured differently so that it cleans better. It has the 30 second pacer to help encourage you to brush the teeth evenly. You also get a visible pressure sensor that our dentists recommend, not to mention longer battery life and an LED on the handle to give some feedback too.
It comes in a number of colour options. Do try to pick the black coloured variant as this is the only one to include a travel case and it's usually the same price as the others.
How the Pro 100 looks, feels and works
The Pro 100 comes packaged in a carboard box with a design similar to that of most other electric toothbrushes from the company.
You get the essentials you need in the box, but I do certainly welcome the addition of a travel case.
Too often this feels a little underrated. Ok not everyone needs it. However it can be quite handy to transport and protect the handle and head should you be away for 1 or more nights.
It is a fairly simple case, made of a white colour plastic, hinged on the left side but it does the job it needs to do well.
For the price, you can't really complain too much, although an extra brush head never goes a miss.
The brush is relatively easy to hold. It has a tapered design where it is thicker at the top of the handle and thinner towards the bottom. Oral-B’s more premium models tend to have a more uniform shape down the length of the handle, which I prefer personally.
The body of the handle is made from plastic, which is gloss white in colour.
The colour of the grip does depend on the variant you purchase.
There are 4 different variants of the Oral-B Pro 100.
The core features and functions are the same, what differs is the brush head provided and the colour of the rubber grip on the handle.
Those 4 options are:
- Pro 100 CrossAction (Midnight Black)
- Brush head: CrossAction brush in black colour,
- Grip colour: Black
- Pro 100 FlossAction
- Brush head: FlossAction
- Grip colour: Blue
- Pro 100 Gum Care
- Brush head: Gum Care
- Grip colour: Pale grey
- Pro 100 3D White
- Brush head: 3D White
- Grip colour: Pink
It is a 360 degree grip with small dimples all over it that really give the fingers something to grip onto.
You might think how hard can it be to grip onto a toothbrush handle, but if you have limited dexterity or small hands, it can make a big difference.
The gloss white plastic is visible in the lower third of the brush handle and at the neck of the brush, where the brush head attaches.
In the lower third, on the front is the Braun Oral-B logo and on the back is some regulatory information.
Easily missed, but a potentially useful feature is found on the rear of the brush handle. A small raised piece of rubber extends very slightly just below the neck of the handle. This stops the toothbrush from rolling if laid on a countertop.
On the base of the Vitality is a recess into which fits the charging prong on the charging stand.
The Pro 1000 toothbrush handle is sealed, meaning it is water resistant, ideal when it will be exposed to moisture in the mouth.
You can happily rinse it under the tap to give it a clean, even use it in the shower if you like. Do avoid complete submersion in water though.
The charging stand will resist a few splashes but avoid getting that wet, it is not designed to be water resistant.
Inside the handle is the battery and motor that makes the brush function.
The motor inside this handle is satisfactory.
It provides significantly more movements to the brush head than a manual toothbrush to help you achieve a greater standard of clean.
However, do be aware that the motor is a little less powerful than the more premium models you can buy from Oral-B. This will be very obvious to existing electric toothbrush users, and I think even new users of the Pro 100 might feel it is a bit weak.
Don't get me wrong, more power doesn't necessarily equal better cleaning results. But, it can help. Technique, routine and total brushing time all has a part to play too.
Another factor affecting the clean is the cleaning motion. The Pro 100 offers a 2D cleaning action (oscillations and rotations), not the 3D cleaning action (oscillations, rotations and pulsations) of more premium models.
You will find the 3D action on the Pro 500 model and above.
The whole unit is powered on by the one and only button on the front of the brush handle. In the upper third of the brush handle, the button, complete with a power icon, needs to be pressed to turn the brush on and off.
I should mention the button has a nice resistance. Not too soft that the brush is turned on very easily, but not too stiff that it feels hard work to use it.
This button stands out, because it is a small convex circular button, inside an oval shaped panel, framed with a white plastic oval ring.
When powered on, the brush will launch into the one and only cleaning mode available on the brush.
Unlike many toothbrushes that offer multiple cleaning modes, having 1 mode makes things nice and simple.
You don't necessarily need multiple modes, so points to the Pro 100 for simplicity.
Of course to make use of the brush you need to have the brush head attached.
The detachable brush heads slide on and off the metal prong on the top of the handle. This prong feeds down inside the handle to the motor.
With the brush head attached and the brush powered on, the timer built into the brush begins to start counting down.
At the time of pressing the power button, you activate the 2 minute timer.
This runs silently in the background until you achieve 2 minutes (120 seconds) of brushing time. At which point, the brush motor will pause briefly 3 times and as such case a change in the brushing sensation and sound.
This is your alert that the 2 minutes has been achieved.
Useful this is, because too few brush for this long. So, you know only to stop brushing when you hear this alert.
However, what the Pro 100 lacks that you get on virtually all other Oral-B brushes is the 30 second pacer.
A what? The quadpacer/30 second timer.
At 30 second intervals, the brush motor will pause briefly causing a change in the sound and motion. It is this that signals you to change from 1 quadrant to another.
It is just like the 2 minute timer, expect it kicks in at 30 seconds intervals.
The principle is you brush the 4 sections of your mouth (upper right, upper left, lower right, lower left) for 30 seconds each so you essentially give and equal clean to all teeth, rather than focusing just on the front ones for example.
Regretfully the 100 does not have this and for me this is a big oversight.
Those brushes that have this essentially allow users to level up their brushing routine and standard.
Models like the Pro 2 2000 stand out, because they have the 3D cleaning action, powerful motor, the built-in 2 minute timer, 30 second pacer and a pressure sensor.
The 100 does not have a pressure sensor. Whilst in truth it is not a deal breaker, it is a nice to have.
The bristles virtually need only skim the tooth surface. Scrubbing with the brush doesn't equal better brushing. But, many still do.
A pressure sensor would alert you via an audible warning or a notification light when you were brushing too hard. It would also reduce the motor speed until such time as the pressure was relieved.
It is not all about the brush though. It does rely on you in part, particularly with using the right technique, so do make sure you familiarise yourself with this.
You get 16 cleaning sessions of 2 minutes from the battery built into the Pro 100. As I explain in the battery section, this isn't really as good as it should be.
Unfortunately, there is no warning from the brush when the battery is low.
Unlike most other models, there is no battery icon, so it's up to you to recharge it regularly if you want to avoid it going flat mid clean.
Whether you opt for the CrossAction or 3D White variant of the Pro 100, all brush heads are designed to clean the teeth well, cleaning the tooth surface, including in between teeth and along the gumline where bacteria likes to reside.
There is a range of brush heads available from Oral-B. They include:
- CrossAction
- FlossAction
- 3D White
- Precision Clean
- Sensitive
- Gum Care
Any of these can be used on the 100 brush handle if you choose. They are interchangeable.
Remember to replace your brush head at least once every 3 months or 90 days, if not sooner.
An Oral-B brush head will actually fade in colour as it ages giving you another visual indicator that it is time to replace the brush head.
If for any reason the toothbrush does stop working, there is a standard 24 month guarantee that comes with it and you do too have a 180 day money back guarantee
Summary of design, usability, clean & general use
The battery lasts 8 days on a full charge
Given the price point, I nor you should expect an exceptional battery life from this brush.
Oral-B claims that the Pro 100 will offer 8 days of use.
That is 16 brushing sessions.
Each brushing session should last 2 minutes, so that gives a total running time of 32 minutes.
During my hands-on testing, I actually managed to achieve up to 46 minutes of brushing time. That equates to an extra 3.5 days or an extra 7 brushing sessions.
I can't say all will benefit from such extra battery life, but it confirms that the Pro 100 should easily achieve a minimum of 8 days.
If you brush for longer than 2 minutes or you share the brush handle with another user, you will get the same usage time, but you may need to recharge more frequently.
It would be nice if it lasted a little longer, many competing brushes offer at least 2 weeks, if not longer.
Sonicare's ProtectiveClean 4300 offers a good couple of weeks extra battery life.
Oral-B's own Pro 2000 offers up to 16 days, which is twice that really of the 100. And there is no sacrifice in handle size or weight either.
Part of the reason is the battery technology. The Pro 100 still uses a Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) battery compared to many others that have Lithium-Ion.
It is a shame this 100 series did not gain a new battery. I imagine price has something to do with why it was excluded.
The other big issue here is that you get no feedback from the brush in terms of how much power is left. There is no battery or charging icon.
It is a bit of a guessing game.
It is a bit of a first world problem, but it is also very frustrating.
If you leave the brush on the charging stand all the time it is not in use, then no problem, but for some, this isn't an option.
We can probably all remember 'roughly' when the brush was last charged, but when using the Pro 100, there is a real danger it runs flat during use because you actually last charged it 7 or 8 days ago rather than the 5 days you thought it was.
A battery icon with a flashing reminder when the battery is low would be nice. This is one of the appeals for sure of the premium models Oral-B offers.
When you do need to replenish the battery, you can recharge the Professional Care 100 on the provided charging stand.
It will generally recharge in full if left overnight.
The stand is a fairly typical Oral-B charger with a 2 pin power adapter hardwired into it.
The stand itself supports voltages of 220-240v, so fine for Australia.
If you do travel, be aware you will likely need a plug and voltage adapter.
Summary of battery life
Price & where to buy
The suggested retail price of the Pro 100 is $70.
DO NOT pay this price, I urge you.
Oral-B brushes are often discounted by as much as 50%.
This would make the Pro 100 come in at $35.
Now, if you were on a very tight budget, I would say $35 is just about justifiable. Ideally, I would want the purchase price to be sub $30.
However, although not every retailer is discounting the 100 series, those that are, do not appear not to be discounting it as much as 50%.
Typical prices seem to be hovering more around the $35-40.
This has dropped nicely from what was an average price of around $55.
At about $37.50 it is justifiable.
But, do be aware there are premium brushes that could serve you a little better for not too much extra money.
The Pro 500 for example comes in at around $50 and addresses many of the shortcomings of this brush.
I strongly urge anyone considering the Pro 100 to at least look at the Pro 500, or better still the Pro 2 2000, because for a few more dollars, you get a much better product in my opinion.
For the sake of fair comparison, we like to work out the typical cost of ownership over 3 years. This gives you a bit of a benchmark to compare brushes.
The Pro 100 comes with 1 brush head in the box. Over a 3 year period, you will require a further 11, at an average cost of $7 per head. That is a $77 on top of the purchase price.
At the full $70 price, this would make it $147 or $0.13 per day.
Pay what appears to be the average price of $37.50 for the Pro 100 and the ownership costs drops to $115.
Pick it up for $35 or less and you are getting a good brush for the money.
This price does exclude the cost of water, toothpaste and electric to charge it, but you get a rough idea at how much you will be paying for it over the whole 3 years.
There is a good chance the brush will last longer than the 3 year period and using the same brush handle but switching heads with other users in your household will only help bring the cost down and drive more value from it.
Please note that all prices quoted are approximates and should be used only as a guide during your decision process.
Summary of price & where to buy
My thoughts on reliability and repairability
As is standard for any brush that comes into Electric Teeth HQ, we test it.
The brush does not undergo special durability tests, nor is any of our testing carried out under scientific/lab conditions.
Our testing is hands-on, everyday use like you would at home.
The Pro 100 has a handle design that is different to most other models.
It is certainly not as tried and tested as other handle designs, but I have no immediate cause for concern based on my time using the 100 Series.
It feels durable enough. There are no obvious weaknesses that I can see that would have me concerned about the ongoing reliability.
Oral-B are a reputable brand and this will have gone through lots of testing prior to shipping such a design.
Like other Oral-B brushes, you have a 180 day money back guarantee as well as a 2 year warranty. Therefore should you not be happy or anything does go wrong, there are support mechanisms to fall back on.
Sustainability
Dr. Gemma Wheeler has looked in detail at the environmental impact of electric toothbrushes. Our guide to eco-friendly dental health offers advice on steps you can take to reduce your own impact.
With regards to the Vitality 100 specifically; it has a fairly limited box contents which reduces its weight during transportation compared to others that come with more items in the box. Yes, the travel case does impact the weight, but only marginally and it is a valuable accessory for many.
It is not a smart brush, which reduces the total number of components used and means not as much waste is created when the brush no longer works.
It has not been designed to be easily repaired by yourself. Trying to replace parts like the battery will likely break the brush. This makes it more likely to be discarded rather than repaired if broken.
While Oral-B has partnered with schemes such as TerraCycle in some countries, it does not yet have its own recycling scheme for used brush heads or faulty products.
The Vitality's brush heads are made from petroleum-based plastic, which uses up the planet’s finite resources compared to using plant-based plastics.
Summary of reliability, long term use & sustainability
Conclusion
The Pro 100 is a basic electric toothbrush and it cleans the teeth to a reasonable standard.
It looks nice and feels good in the hand. You even get a useful travel case included in the box.
It is a very solid budget option choice.
But, if you can afford to, we recommend investing in the Pro 2 2000
Size guide
- Toothbrush height with head - 22cm / 8.66 inches
- Toothbrush height without head - 18cm / 7.09 inches
- Width - 3.2~2.5cm / 1.26~0.98 inches
- Depth/thickness - 3.2~2.5cm / 1.26~0.98 inches
- Weight with head - 105g / 3.7 ounces
- Weight without head - 99g / 3.49 ounces
Noise
- 75dB
Country of manufacture
- -
Cannot put batteries into a Pro 100. Nothing seems to open. What do you suggest?
No super special recommendations other than a firm push either side of the base of the handle simultaneously. You are not the first to complain about this, it can be quite stiff. Perhaps you have someone else who could try for you?