Keep the power on/off button pressed until you hear a series of three short beeps (after 6-7 seconds). Any electric toothbrush is going to come with at least 1 cleaning mode, and the default is ‘Clean’. As with most sonic toothbrushes, this model is very quiet, at just 71.2dB. That’s loud enough that you can hear it, but the high-pitched buzz isn’t distracting or annoying. Why buy the Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean 6100?

What I call ‘power’ is actually made up of 2 different variables. They are amplitude and frequency.For many years Sonicare stated 31,000 brush strokes, this has changed in more recent times to instead quoting 62,000 movements within their sales documentation. There are several ProtectiveClean brushes, but all have similar specifications. Unlike the DiamondClean, toothbrushes in the ProtectiveClean range have a pressure sensor, and will warn you if you're applying too much force when you brush. This is great for anyone who tends to be a bit heavy-handed, and has been warned that they're at risk of damaging their enamel. However, we should note that this probably won’t last very long, especially if you don’t fully wash away all the toothpaste from the toothbrush after use. After a few weeks of allowing remnants of toothpaste to remain on the handle, our beautiful handle was soiled in white stains that we cannot scrub off for love nor money. This can be easily avoided, however, by simply giving it a good rinse after use.

The polishing motion used in the last 40 seconds of this mode will feel and sound different from the first 2 minutes.

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Some newer brushes, such as the 1100, 2100, 3100 and 4100 Series are listed as having 31,000 brush strokes only. They don’t achieve the 62,000 movements. Triple tone of low-med-high means the brush head replacement reminder feature has been activated. The brush head replacement light and battery light will also blink green 3 times in unison to confirm activation. The Sonicare DiamondClean 9000, 9300, 9500 and 9750 are Philips's top-end electric toothbrushes with Bluetooth connectivity so you can link the handle to the Philips app on your phone. That might sound like overkill, but it's actually a very handy feature if you want to improve your brushing technique, giving you guidance to help you clean your mouth more thoroughly.

Sonicare electric toothbrushes use a ‘sonic’ cleaning action, which is slightly different to the oscillating-rotating technology that the likes of Oral-B use. As to the responses from customer service representatives, the characteristics may be considered trade secrets or something thus preventing them from outright telling you. Doing your own measurements would be best if you can get ahold of the brushes, for where there’s no answer available. Given the sonic nature of the toothbrushes, the number of strokes can be measured with a frequency meter app on your phone. Of course, having the brush in question would be required, or having a good audio recording of one. Some models refer to this mode as just Deep Clean, whilst on others, it is labelled as Deep Clean+. It is the same cleaning action, just with a different name. Amplitudeis the maximum distance covered (or the sweep angle) by the power toothbrush bristles during their cycle of movement. This is usually defined in terms of mm (distance) or degrees (angle).I don’t yet know the frequency, but Clear mode produces a pure sine-wave frequency. Pulse seems to be the same frequency passed through a flange filter. The other three modes are more difficult to describe at the moment as I haven’t paid them enough attention yet.