Waterpik: Ultra Dental Water Jet

Posted by Debbie Dragon on November 23, 2009

The nice people at Waterpik want to know what I think of the Ultra Dental Water Jet, so they sent me one to try out. I’ve never used a Waterpik, so this was a fun experience and I had no idea what to expect!

Everything came it it’s own sealed plastic bag – but I washed it all before using it anyway just in case. It’s going in my mouth, after all. The set up took me less than 2 minutes. I filled the water basin/cup with lukewarm water, selected one of the tips and snapped it into place just like the picture showed me, put the tip in my mouth and turned it on. I immediately got an unexpected (and unwanted) shower (as did the rest of my bathroom)!!

I quickly turned it off and decided I might want to read the instructions before operating. The instructions very clearly pointed out that I should keep my lips partially closed, to prevent the water from spraying all over the place, but still allow the water to trickle out of the mouth and into the sink. Definitely lean over into the sink, because the higher you turn the water pressure up, the faster that water is going to come back out of your mouth. Once I had my mouth partially closed – it was a whole lot less messy.

I tested the Waterpik out on settings 1 through 4, but by 4, the force of the water was strong enough that it was beginning to get a little uncomfortable on my gums. I would assume the more you use it, the higher the setting you could use with comfort as your gums get healthier and stronger from the stimulation.

Using just plain water, I cleaned around my entire gum line, top and bottom, and when I was done I really did feel like my mouth was fresher and closer to the “after dentist cleaning” you only seem to get after having your teeth cleaned at the dentist.

A couple days later, I tried adding a little mouthwash with the water. This was even more enjoyable and when I got done cleaning around and between the teeth and gums with the Waterpik and mouthwash rinse – I really did feel like I had just walked out of the dentists office for my annual cleaning.

They claim the Ultra Dental Water Jet is 93% more effective than flossing. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I will say it was much more enjoyable to spray the water around in there (once I got the hang of it) than to try and glide the floss in and out between my teeth. Floss always gets stuck around a few teeth and gets shredded for me, so this is definitely easier and quicker than flossing for me.

My oldest boy loves it, too. He’s going to be 7 on Saturday, and usually it’s a bit of a challenge to get him in to brush his teeth. Once I set this contraption on the edge of the sink (and it doesn’t take up a ton of room, either) he was interested to brush and use the fun little tool. He uses one of the other tips (it comes with a variety) and just sets it on the lowest setting. I think he just likes to shower the bathroom with the over spray personally, but who am I to stop the kid from wanting cleaner teeth through better daily oral care?

Waterpik.com has a few promotions and specials going on over at their website – including a giveaway for the Ultra Dental Water Jet and a shower head; as well as discounts for holiday purchases of select items. I’m telling you just in case you’re interested – I don’t get anything out of it if you end up buying but just thought I’d share!