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Why I Think the Soocas Neos II Redefines Oral Care
Even you’re a regular tooth flosser, it’s likely not your favorite chore. And if you don’t floss – well, as soon as you open your mouth, your dentist may discover a new means of funding their extravagant lifestyle.
To help alleviate the flossing chore, the folks at Soocas have created the MultiClean 2-in-1 Neos II ($169.99), a toothbrush with an integrated water flosser. According to the company, the Neos II cleans up to 35 times more plaque than traditional manual brushing, and “has been tested to achieve 100% plaque removal and visibly whiter teeth in just three days.”
I’ve been using the Neos II for a month and, as a non-flosser with terrible teeth who’s funded his dentist’s vacation home, I can report it produces remarkably effective and satisfying – if potentially messy – results.
Neos II is a second-generation product, and much improved from the first. Neos II is 32% smaller than its predecessor – it’s only slightly larger and heavier than a standard electric toothbrush and much smaller than Waterpik’s standalone water flossers. Neos II also delivers 60 seconds of continuous flossing using half as much water than the first gen Neos, while my Waterpik supplies only around 30 seconds of water streaming.
Even with a smaller device, Neos II delivers statistically better results than most of its water flossing competition. For one thing, the Neos II’s pulsing water stream is delivered at 124.3 PSI peak pressure. By comparison, the much bulkier combined brush/water flosser Purr Smile Complete Oral Care Kit ($116.99) delivers water at 110 PSI, and Waterpiks stream water at 45-75 PSI, depending on settings and model. You’ll also get 30 days of teeth cleaning from a single Neos II charge, about twice the battery life of standalone electric toothbrushes.
Does Neos II brushing and water flossing do as effective plaque/tarter removal and between-teeth cleaning teeth as string flossing? Maybe not 100% depending on how well or frequently you string floss, but “a product that pairs the two main things that we have to do to maintain our [dental] health is extremely valuable,” notes New York City dentist Dr. Lorna Flamer-Caldera, who recommends the Neos II. “This will take care of something that you were doing differently or not doing.”
Product design
Neos II comes in a surprisingly large box made of environmentally-friendly sugarcane bagasse – essentially the dry pulp left after processing. It’s increasingly used for packing and construction materials instead of merely discarded. Inside the box is an oval box containing the device and one brush head, plus six extra heads in packages of two.
Neos II has three buttons: the top round button triggers a two-minute regular electric brushing and, after a 2-3 second pause for spitting, a one-minute session of brushing plus flossing; the middle horizontal button is for choosing the brushing intensity; and the bottom round button activates one-minute of combined brush/flossing. Filling the compact water reservoir on the reverse side takes seconds, far less time than filling the reservoirs of far larger Waterpik.
The Neos II charges magnetically – the charger just magnetically snaps on. I do wish the USB cord was a little longer since electrical outlets in the bathroom aren’t always in convenient locations.
Brushing performance
First off, water flossers are messy, in my experience. The first time I used my Waterpik, water spurted every which way all over fixtures, faucets, and mirror. From then on, I used my Waterpik solely in the shower. Soocas says that, with practice, breathing through your nose, and otherwise following the instructions, the Neos II can be used over your sink with minimum mess. While not as messy as the Waterpik, my initial Neos II session resulted in unwanted cleanup. So, like my Waterpik, I strictly use the Neos II in the shower. Your results may vary.
Second, to me, three minutes – two for the brushing, one for brushing/flossing – is a LOOONG tooth-brushing session. But, damn if my mouth doesn’t feel as clean as after a dental hygienist visit. During the water flossing segment, I changed the usual side-to-side brushing to a more circular motion on and around the front and top of my teeth to get the most out of the pulsing water floss stream.
If you do need to momentarily pause your brushing or flossing mid-session, just push the appropriate round button to stop for a few seconds, take a breath or spit, and then press again to resume. If you want to end your brushing or brushing/flossing session in the middle, just hit the appropriate button again to pause, then set the Neos II down. It will reset itself after around 10-15 seconds.
Neos II has three intensity settings, but I just used the top setting. I assume the lower settings are for those with more sensitive teeth and/or gums. You get a slight pause every 30 seconds during brushing to gauge how much time you’re spending on each quarter of your mouth. The one-minute brush/flossing is just a continual process with no time elapsed indications.
Soocas seems to have eliminated at least one electric toothbrush annoyance – the build-up of annoying and disgusting toothpaste scum on the base of the brush head stem. My Neos II brush head has remained remarkably pristine.
Soocas doesn’t offer the usual assortment of different sizes, soft/hard, or types (gums, tongue, teeth, etc.) of brush heads. According to Dr. Flamer-Caldera, different types of brush heads aren’t necessary. “If you’re not choking, you’re not gagging, [and the brush] can reasonably fit into all of the corners of your mouth, then it will be effective for you,” she explained.
I found it just so.
[Image credit: Stewart Wolpin/Techlicious]
Stewart Wolpin has been writing about consumer electronics for more than 35 years, including news, reviews, analysis and history, and has attended and covered nearly 50 Consumer Electronic Shows and around a dozen IFA shows in Berlin. For the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), he is an elector for and writes the official biographies of the annual CT Hall of Fame inductees, and is the keeper of the industry’s official history.
