I use a regular Waterpik oral irrigation unit at home. But while I was on vacation I missed it. I love my Waterpik for cleaning my teeth and getting the the hard to get stuff out of my braces. So while I was on vacation, I decided to buy a Waterpik WP360 which is a cordless rechargable model. I had read reviews on Amazon.com, and they weren’t real positive, but I wanted to try it and see for myself.
The unit was bigger and heavier than I expected. I got it assembled, and charged it for close to 24 hours. I was excited to try it. I filled it’s water tank, and got started. The water ran out shortly. I refilled it, and started again. Again the water ran out. I found it took about 3 fillings of the reservoir to clean my teeth as well as I like. Then I plugged the unit back into recharge.
There were several things about the WP360 that I didn’t like. I didn’t like how fast it went through the water. The tip turned too easily, and I had to actually hold it in place so that I could keep it aimed where I wanted the jet to go. And as I said, the unit was larger and heavier than I thought it was be. I had bought it for travel, and though the regular home unit wouldn’t take up all that much more space in a suitcase, and would work much better.
I returned the unit and got my money back. I just ordered a Panasonic EW1270AC Portable Oral Irrigator which is slightly more expensive, but has better reviews, and I am hoping will work better for me.
When I travel, I end up missing my Waterpik! I love my Waterpik for cleaning all the stuff out of my braces. The full blown Waterpik is just too big to pack in my luggage. I had been looking at the cordless version of the Waterpik as a possibility for taking on vacation.
Well, I finally broke down and bought a cordless Waterpik (WaterPik WP-360W Hand-held Cordless Rechargeable Dental Water Jet). I currently have it charging for the first time (it needs to charge for 16 hours). So I should be able to try it tomorrow afternoon.
Some of the reviews have complained that the ni-cad batteries have a short life. They last shorter and shorter times after each recharging. But since I will not be using this for daily use, and only for travel, it may last a long time before I notice this problem. Another complaint is that the resevoir is too small. Again, this is for travel, so if I need to fill it up twice to finish the job, I am okay with that.
I will try it and see how it works. I read on review that referred to a Panasonic unit (Panasonic EW1270AC Portable Oral Irrigator) that is similar. I may try that if the cordless Waterpik doesn’t work for me.
I had my appointment with the orthodontist today. I arrived a few minutes early, checked in, and waited in the back. They took me to a side room, instead of the main room where I normally go. The girl pulled off the little rubber bands (ligatures) that hold the wire in place, and left. I sat and read People magazine for a while. I got bored with that, and was just starting to take a short nap when the orthodontist came in. Normally I don’t have to wait like that. They must have been pretty busy. He quickly checked my teeth, having my bite down on my back teeth. Then he set about to replace the bracket that he removed during my last visit to allow the dentist to fill a cavity in that tooth. He cleaned the tooth, and had installed the bracket in maybe about a minute. He shined a UV light onto the bracket to set the glue. Then he left. In a few minutes another girl came in to install the ligatures. She installed a couple when I asked about the wire. The wire that was still on the bottom was the one he cut short when he removed the bracket. She looked and thanked me for bringing that to her attention. She removed the wire, and installed a new one. She placed all the ligatures, and trimmed my wire. I have another appointment in July.