Waterpik WP-100 Ultra Water Flosser

I have had braces for a year and a half now and should have them for another estimated half a year. The Waterpik ensures that my mouth is clean, and no food that may be stuck behind my braces.

I Found it to be useless Interdental pixsters and floss work much better total waste of money in my opinion

For sure has improved my oral health. You would need to use it to see how much stuff actually is stuck in the teeth and gums that one probably isn’t aware of.

I like that it’s a strong running machine that is consistent with each use. Has many different tools for different purposes so is nice to have those options.

The only downside is there aren’t enough places in the lid to store the tools so there is one extra that just gets shoved in there. Not a big deal though. A good machine. Happy I have it and highly recommend.

My wife has laminated her front teeth and it is very hard to keep the clean due to the brittleness of the implants. The doctor recommended a water flosser instead of regular floss. While we were skeptical at first, we gave it a try and were surprised in a good way! Her teeth look like the day one, every time after using it.

Dentist recommended this product and it was good at the start but after 6 months it failed to hold charge so it had to be plugged in 24hrs. From then on it did lots of stops and starts and only lasted in total 14 months then died. As it has a 2yrs warranty, it was replaced. But the same thing happened with the next model, this one only lasted 12 mths. Phoned company, not willing to do anything. This is the most expensive product on the market so l would be better off buying a cheaper waterpik for a third of the price with one year warranty and still be ahead. Wouldn't go near this brand.

In reviewing the Waterpik WP-100 Ultra, I find some difficulty in assigning it a star rating. Imagine, hypothetically, that you were reviewing an upscale motor car with a six-digit price tag. Imagine that your car runs really well (to 4- or 5-star standard) while you're driving it, but once or twice a week it won't start for you straight away, and you have to lift the bonnet, get yourself messy, and after twenty or thirty minutes of rooting around, the car finally starts, you clean up and you get on your way. This is on the assumption that you're taking reasonable maintenance with your car (servicing, oil, water, filling the tank, and so on). How would you rate that car?

Assessment of a product rests not just on how well it works, but on when it works – that is, does it work reliably for you on demand, unlike the hypothetical car. I'll revisit this question later.

I've had the Waterpik for a few months, and I've used it every evening since acquiring it. Apart from the first familiarisation run with the water pressure set to medium, I've been running it at maximum pressure (10), using only the "default" (classic) flossing tip, and I use nearly a one-litre beakerful of (luke)warm water per session. I fill the Waterpik's reservoir with half of the water and do one side of my mouth, and then I stop the Waterpik, fill the reservoir with the remaining water from the beaker, and do the other side. That probably makes me a more thorough user than the average that the Water Pik company would expect.

Using normal flossing string had been problematic for me with it routinely getting jammed and shredding in certain difficult interdental places. There were a couple of particular trouble spots in my mouth, and I knew that those areas were not getting properly cleaned because the flossing string would not only come out bearing an unpleasant odour, but no amount of flossing seemed to fix the problem. If I pressed the edge of my fingernail into one of those gaps, my fingernail picked up the same odour.

The first time I used the Waterpik seriously, at maximum water pressure, some of the water that I was spitting out was discoloured and had a slightly dirty taste to it. That was no doubt veteran plaque and tiny food particles in difficult places being flushed out. After the second serious session with the Waterpik, I found myself spitting out just clean water. Nowadays, I can apply the fingernail test to the previously worst-affected interdental place, and it comes out without the formerly noticeable stinkiness. The exception is that I sometimes experience a little bleeding from a particular spot on my gums, which I presume shows that that spot barely tolerates being hit with maximum water pressure. Oddly, such bleeding as it occurs is not accompanied by any pain or discomfort.

In fact, I don't feel much sensation anyway while flossing "at the max" over my teeth and gums. It feels almost as if the Waterpik is not running at full pressure. However, if I mistakenly point the flossing tip into my cheek or onto my tongue, I am reminded by the kick then felt that the Waterpik is indeed shooting hard. For people with especially sensitive teeth or gums, running the Waterpik "at the max" may not be a tolerably comfortable option.

I'll address here a couple of gripes about the Waterpik that I've seen expressed in other places.

Firstly, the sound of the Waterpik running. Yes, it is somewhat noisy, but if that's what takes from its little pump to deliver up to its maximum water pressure, then so be it. I would accept more motor noise in exchange for even more water pressure if it were available. And what does it matter if it's a bit noisy? For reasons stated in the next two paragraphs, you have to stay focused on what you're doing, anyway, and not be distracted by trying to listen to someone else talking or the TV running.

Secondly, by default, the control button on the Waterpik's handle is UP and ON, thus allowing water to be squirted to wherever the flossing tip is pointed. To stop the water flow, you have to push and hold the control button DOWN against the upward push of its spring. Pushing the control button down does not pause the pump; it merely blocks the flow of water through the handle. This is counterintuitive behaviour, because you would expect that taking your finger off the control button would default to a "failsafe" behaviour of OFF. I can only speculate that the Waterpik is designed to "failsafe" to a behaviour of ON so that people don't lazily lay the handle down and leave the pump running for extended periods trying to push water against a closed-off path.

The counterintuitiveness of how the control button operates means that you can expect to make a watery mess around yourself until you've mastered your coordination with the Waterpik, namely, to not release the button until you have the flossing tip in your mouth with your lips around it, and to push and hold the button in before you remove the flossing tip from your mouth. You need to stay "in the zone" while you're doing a Waterpikking to avoid making a mistake. Get distracted or get the timing wrong, and you'll spray water over yourself or your surroundings. When the flossing tip is out of your mouth and you're holding the control button down, it's a good idea to hold the handle with the flossing tip pointing downwards over the basin (even better, pointing down the plughole) in case your grip on the button slips.

I have a gripe of my own about the control button on the handle. The button and its spring are prone to sticking down in the OFF position, and there's no direct way of levering them back up again. When it first happened after (I guess) the first few weeks of ownership, I researched the Water Pik company's website, and followed their care and maintenance instructions of pumping a full load of warm vinegar-water mixture through the device, and then letting the handle bathe in a glass of vinegar. That released the button and its spring, but only for a few days. Thereafter, I was again having problems about twice a week with the button becoming stuck down, and it was taking me the best part of 20-30 minutes to get the button and its spring to pop back out, and to wipe up the resulting watery mess. I have since found that filling a tumbler with hot water from the tap, and letting the handle soak in the water for a while, seems to be a reliable method of releasing a sticky button, and if done proactively two or three times a week, prevents the button sticking down in the first place. Sticky button appears to arise if its associated mechanism becomes too dried out. However, the Waterpik shouldn't be high-maintenance enough for me to have to remember to take such frequent preventative measures.

Here we return to the hypothetical car described in my first paragraph above. The Waterpik feels to be doing a great job assisting my dental hygiene – when I haven't had to go through a whole lot of grief getting it to start, that is, getting the control button unstuck. No matter how good the car or the Waterpik are when they're running, if they're not working for me on demand when I want them to, then they're being no good to me at all at those times. Therefore, if I hadn't found a relatively easy method of treating the sticky button problem, the Waterpik would have received two stars from me. I will concede it three stars, but it would have rated four or five stars from me if not for the sticky button issues.

Great value!I love waterpik, I started to use this one when I got my braces. I would never believe how much food is still stuck in and between the braces/teeth even after I brush them! Waterpik helps to get rid of all the remaining food.

Excellent product ,but be careful the first time using it if you never used one set the setting on low until you develop a feeling for it if set to high it may cut your gums wide open it is very powerful.

This is one of the best invention ever. Why it is not recommended more often by dentists?!? Really great for me and family as it allows better compliance to floss teeth. Plenty of debris came out. Happy with it and price I paid.

I happen to have teeth that are very close together, so food gets trapped. Ordinary brushing can't get it, and dental floss is either mint flavoured, or just very fiddly. This is like a mini pressure cleaner, gets right in there, and my dentist has commented that it is definitely beneficial. The hose has a weak point, when it breaks you have to buy a new handle assembly. There's cheap ones online that break again, false economy. Buy the factory parts. It's also a little bit awkward, next time I'll buy the cordless model, no hose to break.

This is just so much better than flossing with stranded floss which often leaves my gums bleeding. With the Waterpik flossing is dead simple to use and my teeth are much cleaner too.

It’s perfect way to clean your mouth and teeth
You don’t need doctors anymore.you can be your dentist yourself by buying this product so go and buy it and enjoy your breath

Waterpik is easy to use and we love using to floss with warm water. We can also choose how strong you want the water to be when flossing. Less painful as compared to using the sharp toothpick and cleaner too. It is relatively small so easy to store. Very convenient and i personally think it is a good buy :)

You'll know if you need this unit if you use it and it yields a lot of food from between the teeth. Some people's teeth naturally grab a lot more food and hold onto it than others. For me, this will get things that thorough flossing will not remove.

It's critical to get the bits of food left over--particularly before bed. Only then can biological balance occur, which is a state where the flow of saliva in the mouth is repairing the teeth through the night. If your mouth is full of food particles from the day's feeding when you retire, then the saliva has to do a plumbing job instead of a restorative one. All dentists know this--it is dental 101--but it rarely gets mentioned amongst all of the hype over this or that brush and its features, and the need for professionals to keep filling teeth.

Waterpik is the most powerful of the oral water blasters that I have found. Stick clear of the Oral B station, which is absolutely lame and has nowhere near the power of this unit. When you get used to it, you will want power. Also stick clear of toothbrushes that have ultrasound as they can be detrimental to cellular health. For that matter so can the ridiculous brushes that expose you to microwave radiation when talking between base and brush. Kitsch, stupid, unnecessary and unhealthy.

The power makes this the best unit. However, there are downsides. Firstly, the hose always seems to be a little short lived--the first part of the unit to go. If it lasts you a couple of years you are doing well. Further, this later model unit is worse than the older water piks in terms of the operation of the sealing rubber at the base of the water reservoir, which tends to leak pretty early on. Leaking will get messy and release too much water oveer the top of the unit. You can circumvent this before filling by pushing down on the rubber from above and pushing it flush against the blue plastic of the reservoir, but this is a pain. Design flaw.

I got one of this because my dentist insist that I need one. To my surprise, I like it and when I am away I missed it! I am even thinking to get the portable one. Comparing the WP to floss, it is easier to use and no more bleed. However sometimes I still have to floss or pickster. The maintenance is very easy and straight forward, you dont really need to do anything special. Keep your teeth & gums clean & healthy. Smile :)

I have a sweet tooth and use this quite alot to get sticky grime off my teeth.
It is easy to use and can give a good clean.
Last dentist visit has little or no yellow stuff on my front teeth, but the back teeth, another story.
It has a nice brush for the back teeth also that helps to get rid of stuck food at the back. I say it is very much comparable to a floss

My dentist stated gingivitis which I have could be better managed with this machine. I purchased it, OMG, I've thrown away the floss etc and the time I used to floss etc, compared to using the Waterpik is more than halved. But it cleans with more efficiency and no pain. Loving this. No more bleeding gums. Recommended.

The WP might work OK if you use it after every meal.
But at my age I'm too old to change my habit - which is to brush after breakfast, then before bed I use a dental floss stick, a pikester, and brush again with toothpaste.
In short, I used the WP once per day in lieu of the pikester before bed - and it was pointless.
Within a month of my most recent dentist clean/check, I have found the plaque building up into nodules already.
My old regime worked far better, was cheaper, quicker and simpler.
Water pressure doesn't seem to be a problem - if you accidentally point the stream under your tongue onto the frenulum, you can certainly feel it!
Also, for me, the thing isn't very user-friendly - the process is cumbersome dragging it out, using, then drying & re-packing away.
For me, a $150 failed experiment.
More regular usage might be different.

I absolutely loved my Waterpik until 4 weeks after purchase it died on me. This is the third time it has happened and each time, due to fading of receipt or lost receipt, customer service has refused to do anything for me and the lady on the phone was beyond rude and full of attitude. I definitely will be trying another brand.

Water pressure is ok and do the work. Problem comes from the rubber in side of the water tank that keep leaking. To stop that, each time u would have to empty the water tank and use ur finger to press tightly.