Playbrush Smart Sonic Kids Toothbrush Review
Reviewed by Kathryn Carr
Brushing teeth is the bane of my life. I can’t say I enjoy it, but I do it. As for my kids, they don’t enjoy it either and they only do it when bribed (and non-sugary, non-counter-effective rewards are hard to come by). I’ve tried novelty toothbrushes adorned with favourite characters, an array of funny flavoured toothpastes and even a star chart, and still I’ve come unstuck. There was no way I was going to turn down the opportunity to give the Playbrush Smart Sonic Toothbrush a whirl.
The Playbrush Smart Sonic is an interactive. electric toothbrush that connects via Bluetooth to Game Apps. Its aim is to encourage children to brush their teeth and learn the importance of dental hygiene. In effect, children play fun, educational games with their toothbrush instead of you running around the room after them, shaking said toothbrush at them.
Even when I get my kids to brush their teeth or rather when they let me in to do the job for them, there’s no way their ‘peggies’ see the recommended two minutes of brushing. With the Playbrush box stating, ‘Brushing lasts 2x longer when it’s fun’, I immediately had my fingers crossed that this toothbrush with its sonic, swivel movements held more entertainment value than my singing, dancing and general larking about distraction technique.
The Playbrush can be used as your run-of -the-mill electric toothbrush but download the App to your Smartphone or tablet and you’re taking the art of tooth-brushing to a whole new level. I mean, you can track your kids’ brushing statistics, receiving reports on how well they’re cleaning their teeth – in terms of duration, regularity and progress. Amazing. These are measured across all the games too, so it doesn’t matter if they have a favourite.
My four-year-old is quite the fan of the basic Brushing Coach which shows a picture of a mouth on the screen and lights up the teeth which you need to clean (the corresponding ones in your mouth of course, not the ones on the screen!) She genuinely enjoys trying to beat her ‘score’.
Setting up the Playbrush is pretty simple. It comes with straightforward instructions and a colour-coded light on the brush indicates the ‘charge status’. A light also lets you know when the brush is connected to the App and the games are good to go. Once powered up, the toothbrush has a fantastic battery life and is easy enough to place on charge when needed.
The Playbrush is targeted at three-year-olds and above. My daughter is 4 and whilst there’s no issues when it comes to holding the handle, the head may be a little large for her little mouth. There seems to be a lot of dribble action! The bristles are soft enough and there’s been no complaints in terms of comfort.
When it comes to games, the Playbrush is set-up for two different age groups, age 3 plus and age 6 plus. When you buy the product, you have access to two games in each category; more games can be unlocked once you upgrade. You are entitled to a month’s free ‘upgrade’ trial but you have to put in your credit card details and remember to cancel before the month’s out if you decide the extras are not for you. To upgrade there’s a yearly fee of £39.99 which includes eight replacement brushes as well as access to 12 games. Alternatively, there’s a quarterly plan with two replacement brushes for £12.99.
The first of the two games included when you buy the Playbrush is ‘Superstars’. This sees a bar chart recording how well you’re cleaning four areas of your mouth. The App tells you if you’re brushing too hard and when to try brushing a different side. After two minutes, you’re presented with a score. My little one is a little hit and miss with this game, sometimes, she asks to use her ‘old’ / manual toothbrush instead. I guess such encouragement to brush, can just be too much pressure. Most of the time, ‘Superstars’ is fun and it does get kids to focus on cleaning ALL their teeth, rather than adopting the typical hit and miss approach. When her little sister gets a Playbrush too, I’m pretty positive they’ll enjoy the competition it offers. The App can link up to 4 different brushes and they’d be able to see who’s scoring highest, competing during the set time frame with some better brushing!
The first time my daughter played the second of the free games, Utoothia, she could barely brush for laughing. The aim of the game is to paint a picture of a bird; the more you brush, the more coloured in the bird becomes. Unfortunately, after several days of painting the bird, boredom started to set in; a variation of pictures to colour-in would be a big help and I believe these arrive with the upgrade. At the moment, we just alternate between the two games and the Coach to keep things as fresh as possible.
My daughter likes using the Playbrush although we do keep her manual toothbrush on standby, as there are days when she’s just not electric! I truly believe the App helps her brush her teeth for longer and much more thoroughly. The games definitely distract her from what can be seen as a chore and make the job much more pleasant for both us. The App also has a handy countdown on it, telling you the ideal time to buy a new toothbrush, something that’s easy to overlook.
I haven’t yet decided whether we’ll upgrade. I think we’ll be more likely to do it next year when our youngest turns three and we can instigate Teethbrushing Competitions! For now, the Games and Coach are plenty. However, I will say it’s worth the investment. We’re definitely getting better at brushing and that’s thanks to Playbrush.
Rating: 4/5
RRP: £39.99 (currently £34.99 as of 18/9/19)
For more information or to buy visit uk.playbrush.com.
