Japanese Compact Head Toothbrush and U.S. Giant Head Toothbrush

     Toothbrush with compact head is usually considered to be better for everyone in Japan. When I was in Japan, I believed so because I often saw many toothbrush commercials which stated that the compact head helps clean hard to reach places. At Japanese drugstores, most toothbrushes have compact heads which you've probably never seen before. When I saw dentists in Japan, the dental offices were always selling toothbrushes with incredibly compact heads which dentists recommended.


Japanese Toothbrush

Japanese Toothbrush

     In contrast, in the U.S., I have hardly found toothbrushes with as small heads as the ones in Japan. When I just moved to the U.S., I hesitated to buy U.S. toothbrushes because I thought that they were way too big for my mouth. I remember that I was really surprised how big it was when I first put the U.S. toothbrush into my mouth. However, as I brushed with it on a daily basis, I got used to it. Soon after that, I became a liking for it surprisingly. I felt that my mouth was cleaner and fresher with using the U.S. toothbrush somehow. Now, I cannot go back to use Japanese toothbrush with such a compact head.


U.S. Toothbrush

     After using U.S. toothbrush with a giant head many times, I concluded that toothbrush should be for brushing only surface of teeth, and flossing cleans where toothbrush cannot reach, such as between teeth. I think that the reason why Japanese oral product manufactures make more and more compact head toothbrushes is that majority people in Japan still don't floss, and orthodontics is far less common than U.S. That's why compact head toothbrush is essential without flossing to clean hard to reach places. In addition, Japanese people usually prefer small items, and they are dexterous with their hands using such a small head ones, so using compact head toothbrush is not a hassle for Japanese people. In contrast, orthodontics is more common in U.S., so people here are less likely to need to use such a compact head ones. Using giant head toothbrush is just fine for people here.

      I love U.S. toothbrushes and would like to recommend my friends in Japan to use U.S. ones. They will be surprised at first but will probably like it soon as much as I do. :)