uFunbrush Review

Design, usability, clean & general use

Coming in quite a smart flip open style box, the unboxing experience of uFunbrush is far from the worst I have had, but it isn’t the best either.

The exterior of the box is branded but with limited information.  It wouldn’t stand out on a shelf in a store in my opinion. But then again, it is sold online only at the moment.

On the inside lid of the box is essentially a quick start guide in colour, which gives you the basic information.

I ordered the U4 sized brush head, designed to suit the aged 14 years old or above, along with the U1 brush head designed for children aged 3-5 years old.

The separate head came in a small box.

So far, so good, but I can tell you it goes downhill quite quickly hereafter.

The images best illustrate what this product actually looks like, but essentially it is made up of 2 parts.  You have the handpiece and the mouthpiece.

The handpiece contains the motor, battery and electronics to function and the mouthpiece attaches to this.

An unusual shape the handpiece is, it is actually a little slimmer and lighter than I anticipated.

Made of white coloured plastic, central to the handpiece is a cylindrical part that houses the removable battery.

To one side of this central battery compartment is a largeish flat panel with the uFunbrush logo to which the provided stickers attach.

On the other side of the battery compartment is a narrower rounded rectangle sort of neck to the handpiece that has a grey power button on it.

The button is the only control, the back or underside of the handpiece is free of buttons or controls.

On one side is the cover/access to the battery compartment. 

At the top of the handpiece is a small rounded plastic nodule that the mouthpiece attaches to.

To attach the mouthpiece you align this plastic nodule with a similar sized hole on the bottom of the mouthpiece.  Holding the mouthpiece at 90 degrees to the handpiece, you twist it into place.   

It fits on quite securely and actually, it all felt quite robust.  Much better than other similar products I have handled.

Powered by a single AAA battery, which is provided, I looked to get this installed into the handpiece. It’s here that the weaknesses really started to show.

You have the + or x style cutout on the cover to the slot for the battery, into which you might use a coin or a screwdriver to open it.  I struggled with both.

A coin seemed more appropriate based on the width and depth of the groove, but as I tried to turn it to unlock the coin became loose as the plastic degraded/chipped away.

I was being gentle, but the plastic seems brittle here and I eventually managed to succeed with a very large headed screwdriver.

As the images show, this part of the product is essentially damaged now and I fear repeated use to replace the battery will result in more damage and eventually it will be impossible to open and close.

Before talking about my usage experience, let me explain the mouthpiece a little more.

Previous products I have used, such as Amabrush and HiBrush have a one size fits all mouthpiece.  uFunbrush does offer different sized mouthpieces, but there is a bit of a catch.

Those different sized mouthpieces are for children and not adults.

Other mouth brushes today have been designed for adults only.

You see, uFunbrush has been designed primarily for kids rather than adults.  Hence the 20 stickers that can be attached to the handpiece.

A quick word on the stickers.  You get 20 of varying design. They are simple to apply to the handpiece and relatively easy to remove.  Once removed they cannot be reused. It is a nice touch and makes the brushing experience a bit more fun for kids.

When in the mouth, if they were to look at themselves in the mirror, their mouth is essentially replaced with this sticker.  The designs have anything from a nice set of teeth to an emoji-style mouth. 

Whilst adults do have different sized mouths, the size of a child’s mouth varies considerably more based on their age.  The different mouthpieces are designed to offer a solution for children of all ages.

The 4 mouthpiece sizes and the ages they suit are as follows:

• U1 – 3-5 years
• U2 – 6-8 years
• U3 – 9-13 years
• U4 – 14 years +

Given that this is the only kids oriented product of this type, it is a nice unique feature.

Getting kids to brush their teeth can be difficult, many parents (myself included) will likely tell you this.  So if a product like this can improve habit and how well a child cleans their teeth then great.

By the age of around 14, the development of the mouth has slowed and is essentially adult sized.

Before letting any child use this, I wanted to test it myself, hence ordering the largest mouthpiece on offer.

Made from food-grade silicone, it is considered safe for use in the mouth and as hygienic as it can be.

It has a U shape design to it, with bristles on either side.

Your teeth essentially sit inside the U of the mouthpiece and the 5 rows of bristles clean the plaque away.

There are 3 rows of bristles which focus on the front surfaces of the teeth primarily with the other 2 getting the back of the teeth.

If you see some of the images throughout, you will see it fits the mouth fairly well and does sort of reach the gumline.  However, the fit is far from ideal. You can see it does not reach the rear teeth on the model and the bristle contact with the gumline is not as good as it should be.

I have what I would consider to be a fairly regular sized mouth and tooth arrangement, but I could tell that in the mouth, the mouthpiece was nowhere near the correct size for me, falling short of my 2nd and third molars

Given that there is only one size of mouthpiece for adults, you may already be realizing how this might be an issue.

Although the fitment to the handpiece is strong and appears fairly robust, the mouthpiece itself is very flexible.  It needs to be to adapt to the teeth and mouth, but it feels a little too flexible and I would like a bit more rigidity I think.

That said, the flex stops it feeling too awkward in the mouth, as was the case with Amabrush.

It is moulded in such a way that despite being flexible, it springs back to its original shape instantly.

The smaller mouthpieces for children have the same design.  I have only the U1 to compare the larger U4 to. The U1 does have 1 less row of bristles, because of the overall size of teeth it will be cleaning.

Given the less than ideal fit to my adult mouth, I was not confident with a child. As will become clear very shortly, I didn’t attempt to test this on any youngster.

It is suggested, like a regular toothbrush that the mouthpiece should be replaced every 3 months, which is unusual for silicone based products, as often the recommendation is 6-12 months. I guess uFunbrush are erring on the side of caution, which I can’t fault.

The single power button on the handpiece appears to be made from silicone and has a power icon debossed into it.  

It actually provides a nice clicking sensation upon being pressed.  It gives satisfying feedback and is neither very soft or very firm, meaning most would get along with using it to turn it on or off.

Mouthpiece style toothbrushes like this have been said to need different kinds of toothpaste.

Amabrush came with its own built-in toothpaste module to help deliver the right amount of paste in the right way to the teeth.  uFunbrush supply in their kit a foaming paste.

It comes in a can and can best be described a little like applying shaving foam into the mouthpiece.

It is much more bubbly and lighter than shaving foam, but you probably know what I mean.

You get 1.76 oz (50g) in each bottle.  How long this will last I am not entirely sure as I didn’t use uFunbrush for long enough to find out.  However, based on needing to place 4 blobs of it into the brush head each time, I don’t think it would last that long.

I am not going to focus on this paste in this review, but it does not contain fluoride, which many dentists recommend.  It contains xylitol and has a strawberry flavour, which is a nice alternative to mint.

I suspect the strawberry is so it is more appealing to the target market of kids.

What makes these mouthpiece toothbrushes appealing is the fact they can, in theory, spend more time brushing each surface of the tooth, despite the total brushing time being significantly less.  

To understand the maths of how you can only brush for 10 seconds, but spend longer per tooth surface, refer to our article that explains this in detail.

uFunbrush has only 1 cleaning mode that lasts 10 seconds.  You press the power button once to turn it on and activate the mode.  Once the 10 seconds have passed, the brush automatically turns itself off.

You can turn the brush off sooner by pressing the power button again.

To ensure I got the maximum results from it, I took a detailed look at the small and basic instruction manual to ensure I was educated on how to use this.

Some manufacturers suggest different approaches, so I wanted to be sure.

Here is what uFunbrush state:

1. Apply the foaming toothpaste from the bottle to evenly fill the corners of the brush head both top and bottom.
2. Place the brush head in your mouth. Twist uFunbrush back and forth 6-8 times.
3. Push the button and have some fun! 
4. For an even better clean, twist the uFunbrush back and forth during the brushing time.

The instructions then state:

Minimum brushing time: 10 seconds after pushing button.  In general, 10 seconds will be enough to clean your teeth properly.  Naturally, you can brush longer if you need.

So, to get the best results you need to move the brush side to side as it operates.

I followed these instructions to the letter and repeated multiple times, but to put it bluntly, the cleaning experience is terrible.

At no point during use or after did my teeth feel clean.

In fact, I think I could achieve a better clean in 10 seconds with a bit of toothpaste on my finger and use my fingertip as the brush.

To prove this point, I went 24 hours without brushing my teeth.  I then used a plaque disclosing tablet to highlight the plaque in my mouth.

The image below shows my teeth before and after using uFunbrush for a single ten second cleaning session.

Any good toothbrush/toothbrushing technique will have gotten rid of the vast majority or ideally all of this purple/blue/red dye on the teeth.

The remaining dye, clearly shows that there is still a lot of plaque left. 

To be fair, it is better than I had anticipated.  But, I think my movement of the mouthpiece did the majority of what cleaning occurred in those 10 seconds.

The next image shows my teeth after a further 30 seconds of brushing (40 in total) and me trying to move the mouthpiece in any way possible to achieve a good clean.

This is quite a bit better and my teeth are quite a bit cleaner after 40 seconds.  But you don’t need to be a dental professional to see that there is still a lot of plaque left.

If you used uFunbrush with these results day in day out, you would have a fast track ticket to bleeding gums, gum disease and possible tooth loss.

But, cutting some slack, the results were definitely better after 40 seconds of use than the results from other similar products I have tested to date.

When turned on, there is a mild vibration in the handpiece which can be felt on the front teeth only when in the mouth

Out of the mouth, you can see the bristles moving a little bit, but this is more pronounced at the front rather than the back and it is a LONG way from the Sonicare and Oral-B alternatives.

There is just not enough bristle movement to sweep away or disturb the plaque properly.  

Couple this with the poor fitment of the mouthpiece to the teeth and gums and this just is not a viable solution.

What I can say, is that the cleaning experience was comparable, or perhaps marginally better than other mouthpiece toothbrushes I have used so far, so at least it achieved something?!

As you can probably tell, with such poor results for my teeth, I was not going to subject any child to this, they deserve better.

After a few days of testing, I chose to return to my own electric toothbrush, I was not prepared to risk my own oral health any longer and I advise you do not risk the health of your or your children’s teeth with this either.

Aside from the appropriate sized mouthpieces and stickers, there isn’t much else for kids here.  Ok, if it worked in 10 seconds, would they need much more? But, I can’t help but think a small educational book, toothbrushing chart or similar would help encourage kids to want to brush.

Although the mouthpiece should be rinsed after use, you don’t want to use the toothbrush in the shower or bath. It is not waterprooof.

Not that you are likely to travel with this, but no travel case or solution is provided, it would have to go in a washbag or similar.

There is no mention of the warranty in the manual.  It does provide an email address to contact, [email protected], which is the same email used for order inquiries.

So, if it is not clear, although the concept is great, stick with a regular manual or electric toothbrush, uFunbrush is not the answer to quicker and more effective brushing at this time.