Oral-B CrossAction Power Max Whitening

Oral B CrossAction Power Max Whitening Review

The CrossAction Power Max Whitening electric toothbrush is produced by Oral-B, one of the most recommended brands by dentists and hygienists around the world.Inspired by their popular CrossAction manual brush line, the Power Max Whitening electric brush head features a similar design. The CrossAction design is famous for having bristles that angle toward opposite directions in an effort to reach plaque more efficiently than bristles that are all pointing in one direction. The theory is that if you’re brushing back and forth, straight bristles will skip over some areas, while the cross-angled bristles will reach down into them.

What You Get

Oral B CrossAction Power Max Whitening Toothbrush features include:

• ActionCup® Brush Head: Hugs each tooth and helps hold toothpaste for effective stain removal
• Rubberized Bristles: Help gently polish away stains
• Blue Cleaning Bristles: Break up plaque and reach between teeth
• Rechargeable: No need to replace batteries
• Action Cup Brush Head: Hugs each tooth and helps hold toothpaste for effective stain removal

Included in the box

• One brush head – Oral-B CrossAction Power Whitening
• Charger with stand
• One rechargeable battery

Other specifics worth mentioning:

Handle colors available: Blue, magenta, violet, emerald

Series: CrossAction

Model: Power Max Whitening

Power Source: Rechargeable battery

Battery life: Up to 2 weeks

Additional brush heads can be purchased in a medium and soft texture. However, be warned that dental professionals advise against ever using medium and hard bristled brushes. The stiffer the bristle, the more at risk you are to develop conditions like enamel abrasion and gum recession, which can both be caused by brushing too hard. These conditions can cause tooth sensitivity and cannot be reversed.

Brush heads types compatible with this brush:

Oral-B CrossAction Power Medium

Oral-B CrossAction Power Soft

Oral-B CrossAction Power Whitening

How does the Oral B CrossAction Power Max work?

The Oral B CrossAction Power Max Whitening brush has 2 parts of the brush head. The top is a circular cup of bristles (Rotating PowerHead), which actually rotates. The lower straight segment of the brush head is stationary and is not powered in any way.

The Rubberized bristles help to polish away surface stains from tea, coffee and red wine. This is where the whitening aspect comes in. Unlike similar whitening toothbrushes, the CrossAction Power Max does not offer a time frame in which it helps you to achieve this whitening. It comes across more as a way to help remove some existing stain and prevent future stain build-up from everyday things like coffee and smoke.

The shape of the ActionCup Brush Head helps to hug against the entire surface of the tooth and clean near gumlines as well. This helps to encourage area specific brushing rather than aimlessly brushing a manual brush back and forth all over your mouth.

Indicator Bristlesshow users when it is time to replace their brush head. Toothbrushes should be replaced about every 3 months, but electric toothbrushes can simply have the bristle portion, or the head, changed out from the body of the brush. Replacement heads can be purchased as a 2 pack for about $6-8.

Areas between the teeth are reached more with the Blue Cleaning Bristles and Extra-soft CrissCross Bristles. These bristles work to whisk away any plaque that was loosened by the Rotating Powerhead. The multi-angled bristles all work together to help users be at an advantage when it comes to removing plaque in hard-to-reach areas.

Oral B CrossAction Power Max Advantages

Cost
This brush is an entry-level electric toothbrush that won’t disappoint. Sure, you’re not getting the Rolls Royce of toothbrushes, but it makes it affordable to purchase one for each member of your family without feeling guilty about it. Electric toothbrushes are the biggest piece of advice when it comes to dentists and hygienists helping their patients to have better oral hygiene. The extra strokes made with electric brushes help to compensate for the plaque that manual brushes might miss.

It’s Rechargeable
Many low cost electric toothbrushes are not. In fact, so many models that are only a couple of dollars cheaper than the Oral B CrossAction Power Max Whitening  brush do not even allow you to change the battery. Instead, when those toothbrushes run out you have to go out and buy an entirely new toothbrush. The fact that this brush allows you to recharge it means that you can get more bang for your buck.  Oral-B states that the battery life can stay charged for up to 2 weeks, which makes it great for travel!

Size
This brush takes up little space and it’s easy to hold. While so many of us are crammed for counter top area in our bathrooms, the recharging base takes up very little room. It makes it easy to travel with as well, since the base is low profile making it easy to pack in a suitcase.

Stain Removal
The rubberized bristles help to remove surface stains from the everyday food and drinks that we consume. Unfortunately, we’re not really sure about how effective this actually is. Coming from Oral-B we’ll give them credit since they’re a household name in dental offices, but until we see some studies that show the effectiveness of the whitening measured, this is at the bottom of our “advantages” list.

Oral B CrossAction Power Max Disadvantages

Stationary Bristles
Why bother having an electric toothbrush that is going to have half of the bristles not even move? The glory of an electric toothbrush is that all of the bristles are supposed to be working together at an optimized speed to improve plaque removal.

This is like a manual toothbrush with a tiny electric one on the end.

Plaque Removal
Two separate studies that were conducted showed that the plaque removal of the Oral-B CrossAction Power Max Whitening brush wasn’t that great. One study suggested that it was effective as a regular manual toothbrush.

Noise
Some consumers report that this brush can be a bit loud, but it isn’t anything to prevent you from considering it. Most electric toothbrushes are not going to be completely silent because they do have an internal motor of some sort. We don’t think it’s a big deal, but it’s worth mentioning since many consumers bring it up.

The Bottom Line

At about $10-12 a brush, consumers can easily join the electric toothbrush crowd by purchasing this model. Unfortunately, some studies show that this brush might not offer that much of an advantage over simply using a manual toothbrush when it comes to plaque removal. However, if you want to get a few extra brush strokes in there, the rotating brush head helps you do this and it isn’t going to break the bank by at least giving it a try. Since it’s only a few dollars more than a regular manual toothbrush, it’s worth the gamble.If you want to slowly move into the electric toothbrush arena, this is one way to wedge your foot through the door. There are a lot of better brushes out there, but when cost is the determining factor and you don’t have much to spend, it’s ok to try the CrossAction Power Max Whitening. However, we recommend saving your money toward a nicer and more effective model.