Can Electric Toothbrushes cause Vertigo?



When my cousin came in for a cleaning she told me that she stopped using her electric tooth brush because she was experiencing vertigo. Her husband, a neurologist told her to stop using her electric toothbrush because it might be aggravating her vertigo (BPPV). By the time I saw her for her cleaning she had been using a manual brush for several months and her plaque control and gingivitis was worse than when she had been using her electric brush. 

I did a little research on BPPV and one study found that of the patients who had BPPV 12% reported dizzyness after using their electric toothbrushes... Huh? The study did not conclude that people with BPPV should refrain from using electric toothbrushes  since "The results align with some publications demonstrating that vibrations in the head and neck area from the use of an electric toothbrush can initiate dizziness; however, it does not appear that this modality of vibration is significant for inducing recurrent BPPV."

While BPPV can  affect people of all ages it is most common in people over 60. It causes brief episodes of mild to intense dizzy ness usually triggered by specific changes in head positon and often t is considered an iodiopathic condition ( No known cause). 

I myself have experienced this condition off and on over the last few years, but last weekend I was experiencing increased symptoms and ended up laying in bed for most of the weekend. I made a call to my cousin's husband the neurologist and he strongly suggested that I stop using my electric tooth brush and by Tuesday my symptoms were mostly gone. Coincidence or not? I wasn't sure... so I tried using my super duper Oral B 5000 brush and I found that it seemed to make me dizzy while using it and afterwards my symptoms seemed to worsen. So I went back to manual brushing and my symptoms continued to improve. 

Last night (Weds) I tried using my Oral B vitality electric brush, an older design that is less powerful and no 3D action. It was more gentle and I experienced no dizziness or worsening of my symptoms. Although I do not have enough proof to know for sure if my high powered toothbrush was worsening my symptoms, I plan  on using my Oral B vitality brush  for the near future and see how things go. 



Although it cleans less efficiently than the more powerful 3D models, it is still clearly superior to using a manual brush. Just maybe this is an example of the adage Less is More. I will add any significant updates in the comment section of this post.





from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2021/06/can-electric-toothbrushes-cause-vertigo.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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