Burst Toothbrush Review

Design, usability, clean & general use

Burst is delivered to you in a fairly simple looking brown cardboard box, with little more than the Burst logo on the front of it.

Open it up to reveal the brush and accessories neatly laid out inside.

I like the fact that the box is recyclable and there are limited plastics to get rid of upon receipt of the product.

It is here you could suggest that more time has been spent on the brush and how it performs rather than the packaging.

Available in 3 different colors, it is the black color handle that I have.

What is nice to see is that all the accessories match.

With some of the competition, you may get a black brush handle, but white accessories. It is nice to see the consistency.

There is nothing revolutionary about the design of the brush, it has a fairly conventional look.

Tall and relatively slim, it feels comfortable in hand.

Depending on the models, Oral-B brushes tend to have a rubber strip on the front and raised plastic ridges on the back of the handle for grip, whilst Sonicare brushes tend to be finished in a fairly smooth touch plastic, but whatever the coating is, it provides just enough resistance to keep the brush in hand.

This sonic brush from Burst is much the same, but the lower half of the brush handle has this diamond shaped texturing to the body which creates a whole series of ridges which makes the brush easy to hold onto, even when wet. It looks quite classy too.

In both black and white the brush looks fairly minimalistic without lots of bits and pieces that scream look at me.

The back and sides are free from buttons, controls or any noteworthy features.

On the front, you have the circular power button on the upper half of the handle.

The black button on the black body is almost lost, it certainly doesn’t stand out. Only in certain lights will you catch the smiley face that is printed on the button.

There is a good resistance to the button. Not too firm, but not too soft.

Below the power button are 4 further icons running down the handle.

3 of these icons are for the built-in cleaning modes. They light up with a white light when that mode is selected.

I am not sure why icons are used. It is not immediately obvious what each are. Just have the name of the mode, like Sonicare do.

The 4th and final icon is a + sign that lights up red, when the brush is being charged. This is the battery indicator.

4 weeks battery life is available from the battery, from just 1 hour on charge.

This icon will also flash red for a few seconds at the end of the cleaning cycle, if the remaining battery power is below 20%.

On the base of the handle is a recess into which fits the protuberance on the charging stand. This is how the inductive charge is delivered through the built-in battery. This is the most common setup for electric toothbrushes.

It is here on the base of the brush where it feels cheapest. A gloss black panel forms the base and is part of the seal to all the electronics inside. It just looks and feels a little lower grade than the rest of the handle.

All of the electronics are sealed inside the brush handle. The toothbrush is water resistant and can be used in the shower if you so wish.

Whilst you don’t want to pretend your toothbrush is as submarine whilst in the bath, the splashes of water and rinse under the tap or shower are no issue for the brush.

Extending from the top of the brush handle is a metal shaft. This is connected to the motor inside the handle and is what the brush head connects to.

A brush head is provided in the box.

This is a color matched brush head and unlike most brushes that tend to have white, blue, green or yellow bristles, here they are black.

The bristles are black on all color variants of the Burst sonic toothbrush.

The reason for this is because they are coated in binchotan charcoal.

Sourced from the hills of Wakyama, Japan, this charcoal is safe for use in your mouth and is added to the bristles to help with the removal of bacteria.

Activated charcoal has been around in medicines and healthcare for many years, but in the last couple of years there has been a resurgence and many products now include it.

Having extensively researched the use of activated charcoal within oral healthcare products I personally think it is a bit of a phase or ‘fad’ and the demand for such will drop off.  The reality of the situation is, the science proves the benefits are limited and the small amount on the bristles of the Burst brush head, is very unlikely to have any noticeable positive effect, for most people.  Most dental professionals would not advise the use of charcoal.

If you’re interested in charcoal for tooth brushing, we cover it in more detail in our best charcoal toothpaste guide.

Essentially, what I am saying here is traditional nylon bristles without charcoal as effective as charcoal infused ones.

On the subject of bristles, the Burst brush head has bristles of varying lengths and feels relatively soft to the touch and on first use in the mouth.

However, I did notice a slight stabbing into the gumline when brushing. This was not some intensely painful stabbing, but noticeable. After a while you can forget about it as you get used to it.  I figured it might be because of the varying bristle length.

Having dug a little deeper, it turns out Burst uses polybutylene telephthalate (PBT) bristles rather than the more common nylon. Burst are open about this but according to Kweon Young Jun a successful patent applicant, PBT bristles “are better than nylon for toothbrush bristles in that they are cheaper, more durable, and less water-absorbent. However, PBT and PET are too stiff and inflexible, and thus, not soft. As such, since it appears that toothbrush bristles made from PBT or PET damage the gums, PBT or PET usually have been used only in inexpensive disposable toothbrushes, or in combination with nylon-made bristles, as a way to reduce the cost.”

Kweon goes onto explain the complications in the tips of bristles and essentially confirms my thoughts that the slight stabbing sensation into the gums was not my imagination and in reality, it is because a cheaper grade of bristle material is being used and the tips of those bristles are not likely rounded as they tend to be on the bristles of those brush heads from leading brands.

What impact this has on the teeth and gums long term, I do not know, but I don’t think they will do any damage! Surely they can’t with so many professionals recommending them.

Sunk within the brush head is an X shaped element. This is the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) constructed tooth polisher that Burst says will help remove surface stains on the teeth.

I am no scientist or have data to confirm, but I am not sure this is large enough to have much impact on the tooth surface.

It may seem like I am making a bigger deal of the brush head than is necessary and I am certainly not calling these things out as big issues, but I do feel it is worth knowing the situation.

The bristle type and tooth polisher is not a make or break issue for Burst. I would just like them to add a more conventional brush head, even if it was a couple more dollars as a result.

The actual brush head size is more closely matched to that of a Sonicare brush head, rather than the small round Oral-B style head.

This, in turn, means the head covers a larger surface area and combined with the varying bristle lengths should help clean not only the tooth surfaces, but the interdental spaces too.

In actual day to day use, I felt the clean was pretty good and very similar to any Sonicare electric toothbrush.

There is no reason for me to believe Burst was doing a bad job of cleaning the teeth, it certainly managed to remove the plaque build-up I had.

Clinical studies have proven how well Burst actually cleans, which is reassuring.

Headline statistics from the studies show that Burst has 10x greater plaque removal than a manual toothbrush, reduces bleeding gums by up to 3x after 15 days and is proven to improve the health of the gums.

I personally prefer the cleaning sensation of Oral-B, but would happily use Burst on a daily basis.

A handy little addition on the back of the brush head are a series of raised dots (complete with the Burst smiley face – I like this). This is a tongue cleaner. Pass this over the tongue or over the inside cheeks to help remove more bacteria from the mouth.

You might like to know that it is perfectly fine to use Burst with braces too. No special brush head required.

The brush heads are designed to be replaced every 3 months on average. This is the beauty of the Burst subscription program, they are automatically delivered to your door right around the time that you need them.

Do be aware, if buying from Amazon, you are buying the toothbrush only, you are not subscribing to the regular brush head deliveries from Burst.

There is just the 1 style of brush head as I have previously mentioned and whilst the default subscription is $6 every 3 months for 1 brush head, you can login to your account and change the frequency from 1, 2 or 3 months.

Brust are not alone to offer these intervals with shipping and part of the reason they do, is so that the delivery acts as a reminder to you or me to replace the head.  However, it would be nice to see a little more environmentally friendly plan where you can get a years worth of brush heads delivered at one time for example.

At full speed, the brush operates at 33,000 vibrations per minute.

You can see this movement in the bristles, you can feel it on the teeth and gums too.

When powered on the brush makes a strong vibrating/humming sound much like a Sonicare brush. It is much quieter than Oral-B.

That 33,000 vibrations is on the first cleaning mode, named whitening. This is the default mode if you like.

When activated, this will light up the first icon on the brush handle.

The next mode is sensitive, which operates at 31,000 vibrations per minute and the third is massage mode.

When activated, they light up the second and third icon on the brush handle respectively.

To change the cleaning modes, you power the brush on via a press of the power button, you then press it again to move to the next cleaning mode.

Therefore to get to massage mode, it is one press to turn the brush on. A second press to move to the sensitive mode and a third to access massage.

Press and hold the button and it will turn the brush off.

If the brush runs through a full cleaning mode, it will default to the last cleaning mode used.

The whitening mode provided a good overall clean and I was pleased with the results.

Do be aware that there is only limited ‘whitening’ a brushing mode can offer. This whitening is actually stain removal, lifting the marks and discoloration on the teeth to make them appear whiter, rather than actually changing the color of the tooth.

With a reduction of just 2,000 vibrations per minute, the sensitive mode was not quite as sensitive as I expected. Yes, I could tell it was a little more gentle. However, if I had sensitive teeth and gums I would suspect it would have felt a little intense still.

The massage mode is designed to be more like pulses. The best way I can describe it is, it is like turning the brush on and off rally rapidly, you get like a pulsing sensation, a burst of power and then slight relief. I don’t know what the vibrations per minute are, but it felt like it was quite high.

The reality is that few actually need these different cleaning modes, they are not all that important.

In most cases, 1 cleaning mode is sufficient and that is what the majority stick to.

More beneficial for your oral health is regular brushing for the right amount of time, but in some instances, they can be beneficial, hence their existence.

Built into the toothbrush are a few essential as well as ‘nice to have’ features.

I determine a timer and pacer to be essential and Burst has this.

Dentists recommend 2 minutes of cleaning twice a day, what this does not help with is ensuring you and I brush our teeth evenly.

The idea is that you break the mouth up into 4 sections. Upper right, upper left, lower right, and lower left.

You spend 30 seconds cleaning each section, that way, over the 120 seconds (2 minutes) of brushing time, you will give a relatively even clean to the teeth and gums.

The pacer is part of the built-in timer acts as an alert to you, to change quadrant as you brush to encourage this even clean.

The pacer activates at 30 second intervals, by pausing the brush motor briefly.

This pause alerts you, via the change in brush sound and the lack of movement in the brush head, that it is time to change quadrant.

At the end of the 120 seconds (2 minutes) the timer runs out and the brush automatically turns itself off. A clear sign to you that the clean is over.

You can always power the brush back on if you want to brush for longer and you don’t have to follow this pacing, but it is good practice.

Do be aware too, that there is a particular technique with cleaning the teeth. The brush head should be held at a 45 degree angle to the teeth. If you want to learn the correct way, check out our helpful guide, to brushing with an electric toothbrush.

According to the documentation supplied by Burst, this has a pressure sensor built-in. This means if you brush too hard, the motor in the brush slows down to avoid doing any damage to the teeth and gums.

This is not mentioned on their website and in using it, I can’t say I noticed any difference when I intentionally applied too much pressure.

Maybe it is present but was not obvious, however, both Sonicare and Oral-B have slightly different implementations of this that alerts you at the same time as reducing the motor speed. You normally get a different vibration in the handle or a notification light. Neither are present here on Burst.

Whilst the package comes with the essentials you need to get you up and running, it would be handy if there was a travel case provided to protect the brush and the bristles in transit.

Burst does sell a black and white travel case as an optional accessory for $12.99 through their website here.

Whilst it will not be appropriate for all, if others in your household use Burst, there are packs of Burst bands you can buy for $7.99 that fit around the brush and act as markers for whose brush is who, much like Oral-B’s colored rings.

The brush comes with a 2 year warranty as standard which applies if you are no longer subscribed to the service. However, remain subscribed and the warranty is upheld for the lifetime of your subscription, which is a bonus.

I have not tested, but Burst do suggest they have a no quibble policy about sending out a replacement during this warranty period, should you have an issue.

For new subscribers, there is too the peace of mind of a 90 day money back guarantee, which is to be commended.

Whilst I don’t think Burst is quite perfect in my opinion, few products are and we all have different preferences. I have to give full credit for creating a decent electric toothbrush, that benefits from some smart user friendly features.

I could happily use it on a daily basis.