Powered Toothbrushes Or Oral Irrigators
Twenty years of CPSC NEISS emergency-room records for this consumer product category, combined with demographic breakdowns, multi-year injury trends, and matching recall notices.
Personal Care & Safety Products · CPSC Code 1608
No trend data
The verdict
Powered Toothbrushes Or Oral Irrigators carry a danger score of 22/100 (low risk), driven by roughly 90 ER-treated injuries a year that are stable over the most recent five-year window.
- 22/100
- danger score (low risk)
- 90
- ER visits per year (avg)
- 0.0%
- end in hospital admission
- 15-24
- most-injured age group
Every figure is rendered from the CPSC NEISS record for product code 1608 - last data year 2010.
PlainSafety danger score
How this 22/100 score is built
The score is computed from four CPSC-derived factors for powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators - no opinion, no editorializing:
- Injury volume90 ER visits/yr
- Severity (hospitalization rate)0.0%
- Fatality rate0.00%
- 5-year trendN/A
See the full methodology for the exact weighting of each factor.
What the CPSC Data Shows
Powered Toothbrushes Or Oral Irrigators (CPSC product code 1608, in the Personal Care & Safety Products category) generate an estimated 90 emergency-room visits every year in the United States, adding up to roughly 541 ER-treated injuries across the 6-year span from 2005 to 2010. PlainSafety derives a danger score of 22/100 for this category (low risk), combining raw injury volume, demographic reach, severity of outcome, and multi-year trend. The five-year trajectory shows that injury counts are stable over the most recent five-year window, with the busiest year on record being 2006 (155 estimated ER visits) and the quietest 2008 (30 estimated visits).
The single most common ER diagnosis for powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators is laceration to the mouth, accounting for approximately 139 visits across the 20-year NEISS window, followed by dental injury to the mouth (106 cases). The 15-24 age group absorbs the largest share of injuries, about 117 cases over the NEISS window, and females appear slightly more often than the opposite sex in that cohort. Severity outcomes from the NEISS disposition field show that 0.0% of ER visits involving this product end in hospital admission or transfer.
Beyond the hospital-sampled NEISS projections, this page also aggregates 0 consumer incident reports filed directly on SaferProducts.gov, plus 16 anonymized ER narratives - together forming a layered picture of how powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators fail in real households. Every figure on this page comes from CPSC-published data: NEISS projects national estimates from a probability sample of about 100 U.S. hospital emergency departments, while SaferProducts.gov collects voluntary reports from consumers, manufacturers, and clinicians. The danger score, trend indicators, and demographic breakdowns update automatically when CPSC releases a new yearly NEISS file, which is why this page is dated 2010-12-31. For regulatory context, consult CPSC recall notices and the SaferProducts.gov public database linked below.
Annual Injury Estimates (2005–2010)
Source: CPSC NEISS national estimates CPSC NEISS national estimates Injuries represent ER-treated cases only
Who Gets Injured?
| Age Group | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0-4 | 5 | 12 | |
| 5-14 | 6 | 60 | |
| 15-24 | 50 | 67 | |
| 25-34 | 91 | 0 | |
| 45-54 | 0 | 85 | |
| 55-64 | 0 | 80 | |
| 65-74 | 69 | 0 | |
| 75+ | 15 | 0 |
Most Common Injuries
| Body Part | Diagnosis | Est. Injuries |
|---|---|---|
| Mouth | Laceration | |
| Mouth | Dental Injury | |
| Mouth | Puncture | |
| Wrist | Laceration | |
| Lower Trunk | Foreign Body | |
| Pubic Region | Contusions, Abr. | |
| All Parts Body | Electric Shock | |
| Eyeball | Derma/conjunct | |
| Mouth | Contusions, Abr. | |
| Internal | Ingestion | |
| Ear | Other | |
| Hand | Laceration | |
| Face | Laceration |
Severity Breakdown
ER Visit Narratives
Real anonymized emergency room reports from the CPSC NEISS database.
45YOF WALKING WHILE BRUSHING TEETH WITH A *** POWER TOOTHBRUSH A ND HIT AGAINST A WALL AS SHE WAS ROUNDING A CORNER LACERATION MOUTH
30 YOM, BRUSHING TEETH WITH TOOTHBRUSH, GUM PAIN , GINGIVITIS
PT HAS BASE OF ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH STUCK IN RECTUM.DX: RECTAL FB.
DX ABRASION, VAGINAL: 20YOF ONSET 1HR AGO FOLLOW'G SEXUAL INTERCOURSE.PT US'G A TOY & NOTED BLOOD ON DEVICE (ELEC TOOTHBRUSH) FOLLOW USE.
DX LWOBS: CHIP'D CROWN BROKEN: BRUSH'G TEETH W *** POWERED TOOTH- BRUSH, W HIS #6 TEETHS' TEMP CROWNS DETACHED & FELL OUT; #8 FX'D
51 YOF WAS SPRAYED IN LEFT EYE TONIGHT WITH A ***, NOW HAS YELLOW DRAINAGE, DX: CONJUNCTIVITIS
BRUSHING TEETH WITH ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH WITH HARD BRISTLES AND BRUISEDGUM WITH SOME BLEEDING
PT HAD A CUT ON THE ROOF OF MOUTH FROM AN ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH. +***. D: SUPRATHERAPEUTIC INR, ORAL LESION.
COUSIN PLAYING WITH A BATTERY OPERATED TOOTHBRUSH AND HIT PT IN FACE.DX LACERATION
PUNCTURE WOUND FROM WATER PICK PIECE DX: PUNCTURE WOUND BUCCAL
LAC L WRIST, PT SUST INJURY W/A MECHANICAL TOOTHBRUSH AT HOME, C/OBLEEDING, PAIN.
USING ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH, STANDING IN WATER IN BR, SUDDENLY ELECTRICITY WENT THRU ENTIRE BODEY ELECTRIC SHOCK
Product Recalls
Search for active and past recalls related to powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators on the CPSC website.
Frequently Asked Questions
How dangerous are powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators?
Based on 20 years of CPSC data, powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators have a danger score of 22/100 (low risk). An estimated 90 ER-treated injuries occur annually in the U.S. related to this product category.
What are the most common injuries from powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators?
The most common injury is laceration to the mouth, accounting for approximately 139 injuries over 20 years.
Are injuries from powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators increasing or decreasing?
No trend data.
Who is most at risk for powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators injuries?
The 15-24 age group accounts for the most injuries, with approximately 117 cases recorded over 20 years. Females are more frequently injured in this age group.
What happens when someone is injured by powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators?
Of all ER visits involving powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators, approximately 0.0% result in hospital admission. The majority of patients (100.0%) are treated and released from the emergency department.
How can I report a safety problem with powered toothbrushes or oral irrigators?
You can file a consumer incident report at SaferProducts.gov, the official CPSC reporting portal. Reports help the CPSC identify emerging hazards and trigger investigations or recalls. You can also call the CPSC hotline at 1-800-638-2772.
Related Products in Personal Care & Safety Products
Safety Guides
What this means for you
Treat the 22/100 score as relative risk between products, not your personal odds of injury.
- See where this category ranks against every other tracked product. Full rankings
- Injuries cluster in the 15-24 age group, take extra care if that describes your household.
- Check for active recalls on this product before you assume it is safe. CPSC recalls
NEISS estimates ER-treated injuries from a national probability sample of hospitals; they do not capture injuries treated elsewhere or not treated at all.
Data: CPSC National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) 2005–2024 and SaferProducts.gov consumer incident reports. Injury estimates are based on a nationally representative probability sample of U.S. hospital emergency departments. This page is for informational purposes only and is not affiliated with the CPSC.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, scored, and verified.
