First, 5 Stars for shipping. Oral Breeze shipped the same day I ordered. I ordered on Friday. It arrived US Mail on Monday. You can't do better than that! It was the latest and greatest version, as advertised on the Manufacturer's site. (2 tips, 24 inch tube.) Fantastic.
I've been using the QuickBreeze for a week and a half now. Already I can feel my gums improving (tingling). I give it 4 Stars simply because I can think of a few enhancements that would make it "perfect."
As background, I'm in my mid 50's, and after the eyes (presbyopia) the teeth go next. At my last checkup, my dentist saw the beginning of gingivitis and recommended a Waterpik Ultra Dental Water Jet. I was about to buy one locally and then thought "Amazon!" Good thing I did. Not only was the price lower on Amazon (with free shipping) but I saw a lot of 1 star reviews too. Fortunately, as with Macy's in the movie "Miracle on 34th Street," Amazon isn't afraid to recommend other products to customers. I found the QuickBreeze in the "also viewed" and "also bought" section of the Waterpik page. Never would have known about the QuickBreeze otherwise. Glad I found it.
I probably should send these ideas privately to Mr. Spaulding, but I put them in the public domain so he can use them if he wants without legal hassles of royalties for ideas. (I'm guessing he's thought about them already.)
First, a really small nit... I wish the hose was straight, as shown in the their photo. Mine is coiled, perhaps because it was wrapped for shipping in a small box. Maybe it's a "Mr. Monk" thing (the obsessive detective on TV), but I'm always kinking the coil during use and trying to unwind it - in use, spraying water around the sink. Maybe it will straighten out with time or with heat? A hose without memory would be nice, so that it can be rolled up for stowage / travel but straighten out for use.
Second and more important, I think the unit should "regulate" itself somewhat so that you can't over-pressure it. The instructions warn about using too much water pressure, but also comment that everyone's house water pressure is different. My dentist gave me instructions for the Waterpik which said never to go past the 2nd lowest pressure setting. So apparently too much water pressure is a bad thing. But how much pressure is too much? I dunno.
But I know it's too easy to overpressure with the QuickBreeze. It doesn't take more than a few degrees of rotation of my faucet to get a strong jet. (No one else in the house, so I don't know what happens if someone suddenly turns off a shower while you're irrigating. Does the pressure shoot up?)
I'm not a Fluid Engineer, but they made me take Fluid Dynamics in college. I wonder if there's an easy way to set "choke flow" so that one cannot get too much pressure from the tap to the tip? If nothing else, it seems the I.D. of the inlet in the QB adapter is a lot bigger than it has to be. A smaller hole would act as a restrictor of sorts to keep the pressure from getting crazy high, as is done with low flow shower heads. (I might make my own insert to try this myself.) Or maybe a turbulator to increase fluid drag if the pressure is too high?
If OralBreeze wanted to make a Deluxe version, maybe a cute clear flow meter at the hose adapter, where a colored ball or disk, whistle-like, rotates / spins to give an indication of pressure / flow? Or a spring loaded ball for a true pressure indicator?
I saw one user request pulsed flow. I don't know enough about dentistry to know if there's any benefit to pulsed flow. I wonder if pulsing flow was simply a manifestation of the original Waterpik mechanics, where Marketing turned piston pulses into a "feature?" Maybe it just feels "cool." But if there is some benefit, again a whistle-like device with a rotating ball blocking / unblocking an orifice would give a pulsing effect if it's really necessary.
Having said all this, the QuickBreeze is a good product. It's cheaper than a Waterpik and less trouble. Nothing to leak and no reservoir to fuss with, grow bacteria in. When Oral Breeze comes up with a rubber based "Ty-wrap" temporary travel adapter that easily straps and unstraps around a hotel faucet aerator, it will be a lot easier to travel with than a Waterpik too.
