Panasonic Professional Water Flosser for Braces, 2-in-1 Cordless, Portable Oral Irrigator with Jet Nozzle & Tuft Brush, EW1213A, White

Bought a second one for a different houses. First one is over 7 years old and going well. The trick is to use good rechargeable battery. Fujitsu. It's better than my waterpik and last longer on trips. Easily last 2 weeks for 2 adults. This uses only 2 AA battery, where the Waterpik used 3 AAA (and did not feel as strong). Easy to clean was also what I had like. Just pull it apart and you can reach everything. The only minor complain is the cap to the battery housing is a little hard to twist off. I guess that offset the tight seal as I have never had water issues or seepage into the batter compartment and compact. It also stands upright and stable, don't wobble and easily get knock over. Folding down to a small cylinder help when travelling.

I use the Waterpik Ultra Water Flosser at home to clean my teeth, but for cleaning my teeth at work after lunch, or for those times when I'm travelling, this Panasonic Oral Irrigator can't be beat. The reservoir chamber is small, yes, but it can be easily refilled. I fill it twice for each use -- once for my lower teeth, and once for my upper. I also add a liquid "soap" to the reservoir -- a mixture of mouthwash and toothpaste (the toothpaste is liquified in the mouthwash). So far the irrigator has had no problem pumping this "soap".I purchased mine about 8 months ago and started by using two, AA alkaline batteries. The irrigator was good at removing food, but not perfect -- I had to use the Waterpik at home to get rid of the deeper stuff (including the plaque stuck just under my gumline).Despite the warning against using rechargable batteries, I went ahead and starting using NiMH rechargeable AA batteries, but I noticed the unit wasn't pumping as hard as with the alkaline, and so I had even more difficulty getting the daytime plaque removed.I decided I needed more voltage. I purchased a lithium-ion 14500 battery (very close in size to a AA, but the nubby tab is reduced in height). That comes out of the charger at 4.0 volts. Couldn't use two of those, so I made a dummy battery out of a #10 bolt, #10 washers, and fasteners (to keep the washers attached) and ground the dummy battery down to size. That made the irrigator too powerful, and I felt like my gums were being laser-cut away. Also, the lithium-ion battery started to fade after about 20 seconds (the power of the irrigator went down). To get the lithium-ion voltage down, I made another dummy battery but with two bolts connected to a central plastic tube and two diodes in parallel (taken from an old AC adapter) to reduce the voltage -- it connected the two bolts together. They reduced the voltage by 0.3 volts, and after trying again, the irrigator no longer felt like it was cutting my gums away, but the diodes would heat up, and the 14500 li-ion battery would fade as before, plus that battery would only get through two days of lunch cleaning before it needed recharging (I could use the NiMH batteries for two weeks without problem).My recent attempt now is using PowerGenix NiZn rechargeable AA batteries. They are advertized at 1.6 volts, but I measured them out of the charger at 1.8 volts. Now the irrigator is at the same pumping power as the li-ion battery was with the diodes, but the NiZn batteries don't fade, and no more hand-making dummy batteries. Time will tell how long the NiZn batteries will last, but so far they are the best match with this oral irrigator.Oh, I should mention the irrigator is also great for returning to work after a dental visit. On low setting, I use it to flush out all the old amalgam bits the dentist left in my mouth.UPDATE 3/12/2011The NiZN batteries, while performing well in the Panasonic irrigator, have resulted in a little too much pressure in the long term. The increased water pressure has forced an opening under my gumline between two front teeth causing bleeding. I'm now using one NiZN battery with a Duracell low-self discharge NiMH battery. This has reduced the pressure enough to stop cutting open the gumline in the one spot while giving enough pressure to effectively clean my teeth and gums. I think ultimately this irrigator would do better with a strength setting from 1-10 much like the Waterpik's plug-in model, then I wouldn't have to experiment so much with different battery combinations. Despite all of my high-voltage experiments with this irrigator, it has held up and continues to run fine.Update 5/31/2011I continue to use one PowerGenix NiZn battery with one Duracell NiMH battery for the best balance of power without tearing up my gums. In this setup, I can use this irrigator for a week in my lunchtime cleaning before having to switch out batteries. I keep another pair of NiZn/NiMH batteries ready to go, so I'm never without good power. At the end of the week, I take the used NiZn/NiMH battery pair home and recharge them (each in their own chargers, I have to use the special charger that came with the NiZN for the NiZN battery).I also switched from a toothpaste/mouthwash cleaning solution to a Dove soap/mouthwash cleaning solution. The toothpaste has micro-fine silica, and I was afraid that in a pressure washer like this irrigator it would blast away enamel and dental work. It may have contributed to that pocket in my gumline when I was using two NiZn batteries in the irrigator.I take a cheese grater with a turn handle and insert the bar of Dove soap into the grater, then turn the handle many times to produce soap bits that land in a large, microwaveable measuring cup. Then I fill the measuring cup with mouthwash and microwave the mixture to heat it up. I take one of those bamboo sticks that are found in the kitchen accessory sections of department stores and stir the mixture until all soap bits are dissolved. I then pour that mixture back into the empty mouthwash container. For dispensing, I have a used, plastic, shrimp cocktail container that I fill and use to squirt the soap in the Waterpik irrigator for home. For work, I use an empty, see-through, one-dollar shampoo container as found at stores like Target or Walgreens (meant for travel kits) and squirt a little soap solution from that into the Panasonic irrigator.Despite using these various soaps and different power levels, the Panasonic irrigator continues to run fine.

We purchased this unit for our 6 year old who is having some early orthodontic work done to try to avoid future problems. She recently got a palate expander installed that covers a few teeth and goes across the roof of her mouth. We purchased a water pik type of product at the suggestion of the orthodontist to help us keep her teeth and the palate expander clean. We wanted something simple that we could use at home or while traveling. This had some features that we thought would work well for our situation.Pros:♦ Does a good job of helping her clean out her teeth. Was able to get some sticky smores out after a girl scouts outing pretty easily.♦ It is pretty easy to control for her (besides the switch).♦ Convenient for travel. Folds up pretty small and has a place to hold the tip.♦ Waterproof. We have her use it in the shower.Cons:♦ Switch is a little difficult for a 6 year old to work, but not too bad.♦ Small reservoir. It takes two fillings to clean out her whole mouth, even on the low setting.♦ Has a steady stream, but more of a pulsing action.♦ Extremely messy for a child to use. We have her use it in the shower every night so that she doesn't get water all over the bathroom.Overall, we are please with this purchase. We didn't want a counter top unit, so this was the next best thing that offered good performance and travel options. It is extremely messy for a small child to use, which is to be expected. We found that since it is waterproof, the best option for us was for our daughter to use it in the shower every night which makes for easy cleanup and no water all over the bathroom. I couldn't imagine having a 6 year old try to control this unit or even a counter top version made for kids outside of the shower. It would get everywhere, so the waterproof nature of this product is perfect for us.