Oral-B Vitality review

Design, usability, clean & general use

The Vitality is available in a few different variants/package options.

As a consequence what you get in the box varies slightly.

Aside from the brush head itself and the color of the grip on the handle, the toothbrush and its performance is the same.

It usually comes packaged in a cardbord box, with a simple box contents.

There is the brush handle, the brush head, a charging stand, and documentation.

It would be nice if there was an extra brush head in the box, but for the price, you can't really complain. You get what you need.

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 color. There is a rubber grip that is wrapped around the majority of the brush handle, which not only makes the brush look smart and easy to hold, it reduces the very clinical look of the white plastic.

The color of the grip does depend on the variant you purchase. White (or arguably a very light grey) is the most common option, but pink and black grips do exist too.

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 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 Vitality 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, 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 work.  

The motor inside this handle is good enough. 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.

Now, to be honest, unless using side by side, you probably would not tell the difference, but it is a subtle difference between the Vitality and models within Oral-B's Pro series.

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 Vitality 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.

You don’t get any clue of this until 2 minutes have passed, at which point the brush motor will pause briefly 3 times causing a change in the sound and motion.  This is the timer that tells you the recommended 2 minute cleaning time has passed.

Now, more expensive brushes have something called a quadpacer (30 second timer) built-in, which in my mind is more useful as it encourages even brushing across the mouth.

Brushing for the full 2 minutes is very important, but just as important if not more so, is the right technique. Make sure you learn how to clean your teeth properly, you don’t use an electric brush in the same way you do a manual toothbrush.

Another downside here is that the Vitality only uses the 2D oscillating and rotating movement of the brush head, compared to the heavily advertised 3D movements that more premium models offer. The Vitality misses out on pulsations.

Whilst the clean is good, you can potentially achieve a better clean from a more premium model.

You get 16 cleaning sessions of 2 minutes from the battery built into the Vitality.

Unfortunately, there is no warning from the brush when the battery is low.  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 Dual Clean or FlossAction variant of the Vitality, both 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.

The FlossAction head is better for getting deep between the teeth, like dental floss might, whereas the Dual Clean heads are a little less focused on this interdental cleaning.

In fact, the Dual Clean head is a slightly older style of brush head and one that is not provided or typically used on the premium brushes, the Floss Action head is.

There is a range of brush heads available from Oral-B.  They include:

• CrossAction
• FlossAction
• 3D White
• Precision Clean
• Sensitive
• Pro GumCare
• Deep Sweep

Any of these can be used on the Vitality brush handle if you choose.

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 color as it ages giving you another visual indicator that it is time to replace the brush head.

The waterproof handle needs little in the way of maintenance, but to prolong the life of the brush you should make sure that it is given a good wipe every so often to remove any grime and dirt build-up and it will continue running well.

If for any reason the toothbrush does stop working, there is a standard 24 month guarantee that comes with it.