Can an Electric Toothbrush damage your teeth?

Hi. I'm using an electric toothbrush at the minute and under the instructions it says to brush like you would with a manual toothbrush. This seems quite odd since the toothbrush has plastic bristles that feel quite rough when brushed against your teeth. I fear that brushing too hard with a toothbrush that already does the work for you could cause erosion and decay. This is the toothbrush I use http://www.oralb.com/products/pulsar/. I think I may possibly have chipped a tooth while chewing on a nut recently and fear that happened as a result of brushing too hard. Furthermore, I have been feeling really tired of late, which may be because the toothbrush is gradually removing my metal filling because it brushes too hard. Do you think I should swap to a manual toothbrush or will I be fine with an electric toothbrush? I accept this may be codswallop but I just feel like my teeth can be damaged as a result of using a standard, cheap supermarket electric toothbrush.

Thanks for your help.

[Jerome Tsang, DDS]

Not to create any fear for you but its possible that you may be brushing too hard.  If you do feel that you are brushing too hard, you may want to either switch to a soft headed toothbrush and learn to brush lighter on your teeth or you can purchase a more expensive electric toothbrush which has a feature which shuts off the toothbrush if you brush too hard.  You may want to go to your dentist at your next checkup to evaluate your condition to see if there are signs of excessive brushing.

Plaque that forms on your teeth is soft and easily removed by brushing.  Its not how hard you brush but how thoroughly you brush thats important.  If there is tartar on your teeth (the hard chalky material on your teeth), you should get that professionally cleaned by a dentist.