Waterpik Water Flosser

I hope everything is staying safe, healthy, and sane in all the chaos in the world right now. I'm still working, but with social distancing I'm spending a lot of time at home (heck you won't catch me out at Bondi Beach!). I have acquired SO many new pretty things to play with lately that the very small glimmer of light is having time to really test things out. 

A couple of weeks I got sent this gadget to review, and seeing as my home self care routine is my piece of sanity, I have diligently using it every day and am now reporting back to share my thoughts. 

This is the Waterpik Whitening Waterflosser. I am admitting ignorance here that I didn't actually know water flossers were a thing until I got this, but every one I've told about it either already had one and loved it, or thought they were a thing that has been around for yonks. I believe they are meant to be great for anyone who has bracers, implants or orthodontics - not something I have but I haven't had my teeth properly cleaned in YEARS and with my horrendous Coke Zero addiction I also have some lovely staining going on. 

Although I have the Whitening one here, they do have several different models at different price points so suit your needs. 

Here is what they claim the benefits are:

Removes up to 99.9% of plaque from treated areas

Up to 50% more effective for improving gum health vs. string floss

Up to 2x as effective for improving gum healtyh around implants vs. string floss

Up to 3x as effective for removing plaque around braces vs. string floss. 

For me personally, I just really hate the feeling of string floss. And they fraying as you use it. And how you can't ever seen to get into the corners. Blegh! So I am quite taken with this gadget. More so my husband is OBSESSED with it. He's a shocker with dental hygine but finds this really easy and satisying to use. 

The cool thing about the whitening version is that it comes with a whole bunch of different head attachments and whitening tablets that you pop into the handle to dissolve as you use it. One tablet dissolves pretty fast so you get about 1 per tank filled with water which is enough to a quick go over. If you want to really get in there and be thorough, you need to refill. The tablet though are cheap and easy to pick up - I recently saw some on sale at Chemist Warehouse so I stocked up (why panic buy toilet paper when you can buy whitening tablets)! I've been using them for about 2 weeks now, and there is a very slight whitening effect. So don't expect an immediate change, but I can see over time that they will make a difference. 

As I said, this unit came with 4 tips: 2 of the Classic Jet Tip (good because my Husband has adopted one), one Orthodontic tip (for this that have them), and one Plaque Seeker tip (with little bristles to access stubborn plaque). I've mainly been using the Classic just because it has enough guts to do a great job of cleaning around my teeth. 

It was really hard to show a picture of how intense the pressure is if you turn it all the way up, but I was super impressed (just by playing with it in my bathroom sink, the pressure alone lifted all the soap scum). The dial on the side of the unit controls the pressure so you can build your way up. Both me and hubby did the same thing over getting really over-enthusiastic on the first try, cranking the pressure and then making your gums bleed (nothing drastic, and didn't happen after a couple of uses, but you're probably better off working your way up. 

Overall, I really like this machine. It's very intuitive to use, and does an amazing job of flossing - I can't see myself going back to string any time soon! If you want to check out the whole range, their website is www.waterpik.com.au and are available at Chemist Warehouse, Shaver Shop, Priceline and selected online retailers and Pharmacies nationally.