The Oral-B Pro 1000 is one of the most popular electrical toothbrushes around. At a tempting price and huge selection of compatible brush heads, the Pro 1000 stands to be incredible value for money.
Join us as we explore everything you could possibly want to know about the Oral-B Pro 1000. Our detailed review will help you make the right decision when purchasing your new electric toothbrush.
Models
There are two different models of the Oral-B Pro 1000. The only difference between the two is the color.
If you have ever shopped around for an electric toothbrush chances are that the white and blue color scheme of the standard Pro 1000 will be familiar. The standard model is the focus of our review.
In early 2016 Oral-B released a new color option, the Oral-B Black Pro 1000.
Just be warned that toothpaste marks will show up easier on the surface of the Black Pro 1000 than the blue model.
Oral-B Pro 1000
Oral-B Pro 1000 Unboxing
If you were to tear open the box of your brand new Oral-B pro 1000 toothbrush, this is what you would see inside:
Let’s break it down:
- Oral-B Pro 1000 Handle
- Oral-B CrossAction Toothbrush Head
- Battery Charger
- Instruction Manual
You will also find a coupon offering discount on replacement toothbrush heads. Hold onto this because just like a regular toothbrush, you are going to be replacing the heads roughly once every three months.
Oral-B Pro 1000 Handle
So it goes without saying that the handle is the star of the box. Let’s take a closer look at it.
The Oral-B Pro 1000 is incredibly simple to operate. A single power button is located on the front face of the handle.
Pressing the button turns your electric toothbrush on or off. That’s it. It’s that simple.
The entire blue colored section of the handle is a rubber grip. Whether your fingers are wet or dry, this grip is very sticky. So much so that when I dried the handle with a towel, little pieces of fluff would stick to it.
But the rubber grip serves its purpose and allows the toothbrush to be held by even the clumsiest of hands.
Further down the face you will find two small indicators. One shaped like a battery and the other like an electric plug. To pit it simply, these are how the electric toothbrush lets you know what’s going on with the battery.
You will see how these two indicators work when I cover charging the Oral-B Pro 1000 further down in the review.
Speaking of charging…
On the base of the handle, you will see a small recess. This is the part of the handle that sits on the charging base.
Printed around the charging hole are the words “Made in Germany”. A welcome change and surprising considering this is one of the cheaper models of Oral-B electric toothbrushes.
Part of the reason for this is that the Oral-B Pro 1000 features Braun branding, a German company who originally developed this range of electric toothbrushes (now owned by Proctor & Gamble).
All the fun stuff is on the front. If you flip the electric toothbrush over you will see a plain plastic rear. Nothing noteworthy at all.
Oral-B Pro 1000 Toothbrush heads
On top of the Pro 1000 you will find the shaft:
This shaft can take any one of Oral-b’s seven different toothbrush heads (sold separately). From sensitive brush heads that are gentler on gums to brush heads designed just for braces.
Now it is worth noting that there are two different models of this toothbrush.
- Oral-B Pro 1000 CrossAction
- Oral-B Deep Sweep Triaction 1000
The only difference between these two models (besides a slight change in the rubber grip color) is the toothbrush head. Each of these Oral-B Pro 1000 models are named after the toothbrush head that comes with them.
Other than this small detail, the two toothbrush models should be treated as the same.
Note: The Oral-B features and name vary from country to country. In Australia, it goes by the name the Oral-B Pro 500.
The focus of this review is the Oral-B Pro 1000 CrossAction, so the included brush head is the CrossAction. Let’s take a closer look at it:
A quick look at the brushead reveals exactly why Oral-B decided to name this brush head the CrossAction. Clusters of bristles crisscross at 16 degrees to help remove plaque from along the gum line and between the teeth.
If I had to describe just how coarse the bristles were I would say medium. Those of you who prefer soft bristles may find the find this head too abrasive.
As I touched on earlier, you can swap the head out for a more sensitive option but you will have to buy the brush heads separately. For more information, check out our review on each of the different Oral-B brush heads.
You may have noticed the small blue ring in the above picture. This small ring slides over the base of the toothbrush head like so:
Now you may be thinking:
What good is that?
If it is only you who uses the electric toothbrush then not much at all.
But if you choose to share your electric toothbrush (just the handle) then that’s where the identification rings come into play.
Each set of replacement brush heads comes with different colored identification rings. This allows multiple people to use the Oral-B Pro 1000 without getting the toothbrush heads mixed up.
The toothbrush heads simply slide onto the shaft of the Oral-B Pro 1000 and a quick pull is all that is required to remove them. It’s so easy that swapping over a toothbrush head takes little more than 3 seconds.
Over time the blue bristles will begin to fade. Oral-B uses what it calls “indicator bristles” so you know when to replace your toothbrush head at a glance.
In my testing; brushing twice a day, I found the bristles to fade near enough to the 3 month mark. Using this as a method for determining when to change the brush head appears to be fairly reliable.
With the brush head attached the Oral-B Pro 1000 stands at 9.25 inches. Just that little bit too tall for the toothbrush to stand upright on the shelf of my bathroom cabinet. Instead, I have to lay the Oral-B Pro 1000 on its side which isn’t my preference.
Charging
You will not be able to use your new Oral-B Pro 1000 straight out of the box. First, you are going to have to charge it.
To do this you are going to use the charger, included in the box:
The charger looks like little more than a large lump of plastic with a knob sticking out of it.
This knob lines up with the hole in the bottom of the Oral-B Pro 1000 and chargers your electric toothbrush.
Here is the cool thing:
Most electric toothbrushes charge wirelessly and the Oral-B Pro 1000 is no exception. The knob does not lock or click into the toothbrush, instead, your toothbrush just sits loosely on top.
The length of the charging cord is just over 4 feet which will be long enough to stretch from most power outlets to bathroom counters.
If you flip over the charger you will be able to check out the specs:
So bad news for those of you who wanted to take this charger while traveling. It only works between 110-130V. Unfortunately, this does not leave you with a whole lot of places that the charger will work outside of the United States.
Note: This review is of the American model and if you buy the Oral-B Pro 1000 locally then it will be compatible with the voltage of that country.
While you can simply charge the toothbrush before you leave for shorter trips, longer vacations are going to see the battery die before it is over.
In this view, you can also see the four small black rubber circles. These are the feet and help stop the charger from slipping and sliding all over your bathroom countertop.
Okay, let’s throw this toothbrush on charge.
Remember that battery shaped indicator I was talking about earlier? Well here is where it comes into play.
As soon as you place the handle of the Oral-B 1000 on the charger, the indicator will blink green to let you know that your toothbrush is charging.
Once your Toothbrush is fully charged the indicator will switch off.
Unfortunately, there is no real way to determine just how much battery is remaining in your toothbrush until you see this:
The low battery indicator light. And when it starts flashing you will be unable to turn your electric toothbrush back on until you charge the battery.
There is no in-between indicator to let you know that the battery is starting to run low, which is something I would have liked to have seen.
Oral-B claims up to 7 days of use on a full charge. Surprisingly I got an average off 22 teeth brushing sessions (11 days, morning and night) before the battery died on me.
It is likely that over time the battery will start to wear and the 7 days of use will start to become the reality, however, this was not the case for the period in which we tested the brush.
Reading through the instructions it appears that the Oral-B Pro 1000 has a NiCad battery inside. It is recommended you completely discharge the battery (run it dead) once every six months to ensure the battery keeps charging efficiently.
Until you need to discharge the battery you are fine to store your Oral-B Pro 1000 on the charging unit. It is impossible to overcharge the battery and this will make sure the battery is full as soon as you need to brush.
Testing the Oral-B Pro 1000 Electric Toothbrush
Brushing with the Oral-B Pro1000 was a surprisingly pleasant experience. Normally on products that are sold in multiple price tiers the manufacturer deliberately removes necessary features to get you to buy the more expensive model.
Not so with the Oral-B Pro 1000. While it may lack the fancier features of the higher priced models, it is a great starting point for anyone looking to try brushing with an electric toothbrush.
The lack of fancy features makes the Pro 1000 incredibly simple to use. Press the power button and you are away.
Many dentists agree that proper brushing takes at least two minutes.
The Pro 1000 has a built-in timer and how it works is rather clever.
Every 30 seconds the toothbrush will briefly pause, alerting you that 30 seconds is up.
Oral-B suggests you split your brushing into quadrants (quarters):
- 30 seconds brushing left half of the top teeth
- 30 seconds brushing right half of top teeth
- 30 seconds brushing left half of the bottom teeth
- 30 seconds brushing right half of bottom teeth
Each time the Oral-B Pro 1000 timer pauses to alert you, you move on to the next quarter of your mouth.
And just like that, you have spent the recommended two minutes brushing your teeth. It really is that simple. No more guessing.
Watch the video below to see the whole two minutes in action:
As you can see in the video the timer is closer to 1 minute and 53 seconds than the full two minutes claimed.
The Oral-B Pro 1000 will pulse three times to signal when 2 minutes is up. At this stage it will continue brushing (for those of you who wish to brush longer) and you will need to press the power button to turn it off.
Oral-B heads are unique in that not only do they rapidly oscillate (move back and forth) but also pulsate (vibrate) too.
Confused? We are here to help. This diagram will help to get the point across:
Oral-B Claims that the Oral-B Pro 1000 can perform 20,000 pulses and 8,800 oscillations per minute. Now that may seem like a lot but it is only half the amount of the Oral-B Pro 3000, the next step up in the Oral-B electric toothbrush range. Still, it resulted in a damn fine clean.
Just be sure to thoroughly rinse the handle and head after each clean. If not, you will have toothpaste build up and discolor the handle or worse, cement the toothbrush head to the shaft.
Fortunately, this is easily fixed. If this happens, hold the toothbrush under hot running water. The Oral-B Pro 1000 Is 100% waterproof meaning you can dunk it under water as much as you like without fear of water rushing inside.
Satisfaction Guarantee
Oral-B offers a “love it or your money back” guarantee. If you are unhappy with the Oral-B Pro 1000 for any reason you can return it for a full refund within 60 days.
Oral B has more information about this guarantee on their website
For those of you unsure whether or not an electric toothbrush is right for you, this guarantee provides a nice safety net.
Final thoughts
The Oral-B Pro 1000 is one well-made toothbrush. It hits the sweet spot of price vs. quality and we were more than impressed with how well it cleaned our teeth.
The performance coupled with the wide range of interchangeable brush heads gives some much-needed versatility; allowing you to find the perfect brush head for your teeth.
Highly recommended.