Summer Infant Dr. Mom Gentle Vibrations Toothbrush

 (10 customer reviews)

As simple as that. This product is the horse and carriage to a modern-day vibrating toothbrush's Ferrari. The marketing is great. It seemed ideal for my non-verbal, sensory seeking child, but it doesn't cut it.

I had been searching for vibrating toothbrushes for my 1 and 3 year olds that had replaceable brush heads. The Dr. Mom toothbrush fit that bill and the brush itself was absolutely appropriate in size to fit comfortably in a toddler and pre-schooler's mouth. I had purchased my original one at Babies R US but it appears that they no longer carry this product, so once again, Amazon came to the rescue when I needed a second one.

The downers are twofold: 1) I haven't been able to find the replacement heads at any store and have had to order them directly from Summer's website, and they're not cheap but better than toothbrushes in which you have to toss the whole thing when the brush becomes flattened; and 2) at times, I have to unscrew the battery compartment and re-adjustment the one AA battery to get it vibrating when it stalls. Other than that, the toothbrush has made my children willing brushers.

My 15-month old daughter loves to brush her teeth with this toothbrush and I think the vibrations are just enough for her, not too strong, not too soft.
However, like another reviewer mentioned, the bristles of the brush were pretty much destroyed after a few times of use. That alone is pretty frustrating.
But that's not all. Since she is getting molars now, I gave her the "gum massager" the other day, and was shocked to see that she bit off parts of the silicone within 2 minutes. She probably swallowed about half of it. As you can imagine, I am not happy at all about this and I think this product is a recall waiting to happen. The silicone is porous and not at all sturdy enough to hold up a child biting down on it.