At the ripe old age of 54, I have braces. The Orthodontist recommended oral irrigation as superior to laborious flossing around the braces.
Being a guy prone to do a lot of research prior to purchasing anything, I did the whole research thing and found that all oral irrigation machines, no matter from what company (WaterPik, ViaJet, Interplak, whomever) all have lots of negative reviews. It seems they are all prone to leaking, breaking, tipping over and a host of other issues.
That being the case, I decided to start at the low end of the pricing scale and see if the cheaper machine with pretty good ratings would work for me. So I bought the Conair Interplak WJ64.
Yes it is cheesy feeling...very cheap in its construction. It is also very light weight, particularly the base. When attempting to remove the reservoir, the base usually comes up off the counter right along with the reservoir so it takes two hands to remove it...one hand holding the base, the other grabbing and lifting the reservoir. This is not that big of a deal, but it is indicative of the lightness of the unit.
The reservoir is just the right size for a single rinsing of the mouth but the small size does make the overall "footprint" of the unit small too. That is a good thing as it does not take up a lot of space on the bathroom counter.
As for the tip holders on the unit...forget it. The tips easily fall out ending up on the counter/floor. Stash the un-used tips in a drawer and save yourself the daily frustration. I only use the standard tip and suspect most people would do the same. For my usage, the other tips don't serve much purpose as I also use an electric toothbrush and don't need to use the other tips.
The pressure from this machine is totally sufficient. I have settled on a pressure setting in the mid-range of the possible settings and at that setting the stream is quite strong. No issues with pressure (or lack of) for me.
I do not like the "on/off" button on the handle... it is really cheeesy feeling and I'm just waiting for it to break. It hasn't yet, but then again, I've only been using the machine for two weeks.
For the price I paid, nearly half the cost of other oral irrigation machines, I'm quite happy so far. It does have a 2 year warranty which I consider generous. So if it breaks, the warranty should cover it. If it doesn't break in two years then it'll be one heck of a value because I like its performance in spite of the limitations I've already mentioned.
I was going to by a Waterpik initially, but after reading so many complaints about how the quality of them has gone downhill, I decided to try this one first. I'm happy with my decision. I will update my review if anything changes my opinion such as breakage or leaking.
I was tempted to give only 3 stars because of the "cheesy" factor, but am going out on a limb and awarding 4 stars since the performance of the machine has been more than adequate so far and the price is excellent.
UPDATE: April 29, 2009
I've been using the Interplak Water Jet daily for 8 months. It has not leaked or broken down. Still going strong and I'd have to say it has certainly paid for itself at this point. My dentist is happy with the health of my gums and says I couldn't be doing a better job keeping things clean. That's good enough for me. I had to take a trip a few weeks ago and was without my water jet, and I really missed it. It's a great and reasonably priced device.
UPDATE: December 8, 2009
Well, it's going on 18 months and the Interplak is still performing flawlessly. There has been no issues with this little thing at all. It has proven to be a fantastic bargain given it's performance. If you are looking for what is possibly the best value in oral irrigation machines, I'd have to say that this is the winner.
UPDATE: Nov 14, 2010
After 2 years of braces, I'm happy to say they are finally off my teeth as of about 3 weeks ago. I'm still using the Interplak Dental Water Jet and it's still chugging away. I do have one developing issue with it however. Several months ago I started noticing a small amount of water underneath the unit after usage. At first I thought it was just some water dripping because of spillage of the water reservoir. But I now think that someting is leaking inside and finding its way out through the bottom somewhere. The unit still works but it just has a bit of water, probably a teaspoon or two after each use. I have not taken it apart to see if its something that can be easily remedied or not. I'm not too worried about it because if it can't be fixed, it's not that big of a deal and I'll continue to use it until it croaks. I've gotten two years plus of using it at least 2-times per day so if I need to buy another oral irrigation device to replace this, I'll likely buy the same thing again as it has worked so well and was so fairly priced. And my dental hygienist continues to praise me during my twice yearly exams. This has completely replaced flossing for me and I still get high marks from my dentist. I attribute that entirely to the Interplak Water Jet and brushing. - Interplak - Water Pik - Oral Irrigator - Waterpik'
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