The Best Water Flossers Give Your Mouth a Supreme Kind of Clean

I often compare my joy of water flossing to the sheer joy my father gets from power washing the bricks on his house: There is some serious satisfaction in watching a high-powered water stream just blast debris and grime away from something as precious as your teeth (or your house—as uneven as that comparison may be). The best water flossers will give you this silly satisfaction, though all in the name of bettered oral health.

These water jet devices can also help clean around braces and fixed retainers to remove plaque. But to that note, it’s important to underscore that a water flosser shouldn’t replace string floss altogether: “A water flosser is not an equal replacement for traditional dental floss, but it can be a great addition to your routine and reduce the need for or frequency of manual flossing,” says dentist Dr. Nicolas Aguilera of Apa Aesthetic in New York City. “My winning routine is traditional dental floss in the morning and water floss before bed.” To top it off, Dr. Aguielra recommends a dash of mouthwash in that water flosser’s tank to decrease the odds of waking up with foul morning breath and increase your dental care game.

Read on for my picks for the best water flosser—many of which you can snag from Amazon with two-day shipping.

The Best Water Flossers, At a Glance

• Best Overall Water Flosser: Philips Sonicare Power Flosser 3000
• Best Portable Water Flosser: Quip Portable Water Flosser
• Best Customization: Boka Power Flosser
• Best Water Flosser for Braces and Fixed Retainers: Panasonic Oral Irrigator EW1213
• Best Countertop Water Flosser: Waterpik Aquarius Water Flosser

The Best Water Flossers

Best Overall Water Flosser: Philips Sonicare Cordless Power Flosser 3000

Tank capacity: 250 ml | Tips provided: 2 nozzles—one standard, one “quad stream” | Battery: 15 minutes

Why it’s great: If the whole point of a water-powered oral irrigator is to supplement your brushing regimen, then put your money behind this cordless water flosser and its four-pointed blasting nozzle. The unique flosser tip has an X-shaped design that disperses a powerful stream of water to tackle trapped food and plaque from every direction (braces, retainers, and crowding be damned), and with six combined pulse settings for each nozzle (so, 12 total options total). That same four-streamed nozzle also glides seamlessly over the tops of each tooth, so that you get the most efficient refresh in that 60-second spraydown. It’s a rechargeable and cordless model so that you can easily travel with it

Best Portable Water Flosser: Quip Portable Water Flosser

Tank capacity: 150 ml | Tips provided: 1 standard (with refillable subscription service optional) | Battery: 1 hour

Why it’s great: If you’re over there thinking that traditional floss is mighty portable, you might be convinced to lug along another device when you account for the Quip, which is innovative and easy to use. The brush head tucks neatly inside drum body, which I found to be easy to rinse clean and keep hygienic. Quip also has one of the best battery lives on this roster, plus offers on-demand spurts to clean teeth (as well as a constant pulse) and remove food particles.

Best Customization: Boka Power Flosser

Tank capacity: 228 ml | Tips provided: 5 (2 standard, 1 tongue scraper, 1 orthodontic brush, one rubber-tipped head) | Battery: 30 minutes

Why it’s great: From its 360-degree head to its four jet tips and three pressure settings, you can really have it your way with the Boka irrigator. Note that this one is a pinch larger than the others on this roster—easy to bump over on the counter, if you’re clumsy—but few devices can compete with its range of motion and scope of functions, so the trade-off is worth it. Its gentle pulsing mode is a perfect fit for sensitive gums and easy bleeders, too. If you want to up your oral hygiene game, this tool makes it easy to do so.

Best Water Flosser for Braces and Fixed Retainers: Panasonic Oral Irrigator EW1213

Tank capacity: 127 ml | Tips provided: One orthodontic brush, one standard | Battery: 15 minutes

Why it’s great: While many water flossers come with a range of heads (including orthodontics-navigating ones), I find Panasonic’s brush head to be the best in show. Among the leading options, it’s got the longest bristles and the fullest brush head and has been able to tuck itself between and around my fixed retainer without hesitation. (I find that the lower of its two pressure settings is a nice way to flush out any lightly trapped debris, too, which may not all require extra flossing and torquing.)

If you have your own retainer, braces, dental implants, or simply just some run-of-the-mill tight crowding, I think you’ll find this brush the most practical and satisfying of the bunch. By design, it lacks the nuance and endurance of some other devices here, but remember, these water flossers are merely a way to build upon an existing brushing and flossing regimen, and few people need that booster more than braced-up teeth.

Best Countertop Water Flosser: Waterpik Aquarius Water Flosser

Tank capacity: 650 ml | Tips provided: 7 total (3 standard, 1 orthodontic, 1 toothbrush, 1 targeted plaque blaster, 1 rubber tip) | Battery: Corded

Why it’s great: Waterpik is the behemoth of this category, in that sometimes we call all water flossers "waterpiks" by accident. The brand also has a dozen or more different devices to choose from, but the countertop options with big water tanks will always be the best buy. This 22-ounce tank is a head-of-household favorite—the one my folks have kept sinkside all these years. It comes with seven tips (three of which are standard and also easily replaceable), has 10 custom pressure settings, and a timed/guided session (pausing every 30 seconds out of the 90-second session to help you readjust and anticipate the remaining volume/time). It even comes in four different colors, so you can accessorize as you fight gum disease and gingivitis.

What to Look for in a Water Flosser

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you scout the best water flossers.

Worth repeating: The most important thing to know, when buying a water flosser, is that this is not your full-time floss replacement, says Dr. Aguilera. “Where water flossers fall short is in their ability to tackle more compact or crowded smiles,” he says (read: between the teeth). “Any type of floss, whether it’s water or string, must penetrate the space between the teeth to be effective.” And in the case of those crowded smiles, the string is going to be superior.

Some of the most poorly reviewed water flossers lack enough pressure to actually achieve their core task. “For a water flosser to be effective, 10-100 PSI is the acceptable range,” says Dr. Aguilera (PSI is the unit used to measure pressure), noting that 70 to 80 PSI is the real sweet spot for most people. “Too little pressure and nothing is happening and too strong can damage the gums and soft tissue.”

However, if you avoid new dentistry tools at all costs and are new to water flossing, work your way up to full blast. The options on this list all offer multiple pressure ranges and are strong enough at their lowest setting to get the job done. “If your gums are prone to bleeding, speak with your dentist or hygienist prior to changing your oral care routine,” he adds.

While most water flossers come with a standard tip—a nozzle that shoots water, no other bells or whistles—some also come with sensitivity-minded heads or even ones that navigate and irrigate around braces and retainers. Most people will be fine with the standard-fit nozzle, but Dr. Aguilera advises you to be mindful of your precise needs and find a device that satisfies the checklist.

Water Flosser Benefits

Any water flossers that have earned the American Dental Association (ADA) seal of approval should be good at removing food debris and dental plaque, notes Kate Zoumboukos, DDS, a dentist at SW Austin Dental in Austin, Texas. However, she says you should also account for the tool's ability to blast water at various angles and pressures when snagging one. “Some dental restorations such as fixed bridges, or wire-based orthodontic treatments can be difficult to clean,” she says. “Water flossers can access many of these challenging areas.” You’ll see a specific pick for braces and retainers in our roster that I've selected specifically for that reason.

While some of the more complicated water flossers may come with a learning curve, they still offer a vast array of options for you, be it the pulse, pressure, speed, or cast of the water. This makes it something you can share with other members of your household, so long as you each person has your own dedicated nozzle. “It’s important to follow the directions of the water flosser system,” says Dr. Zoumboukos. “Users must be aware of the nozzle direction and water pressure setting.” And when you get started, she urges taking it easy and starting slow (lest you end up with a big wet mess sprayed all over your bathroom). Still, no device should be too difficult to understand, she says.

There are many people who cannot use dental floss due to dexterity challenges. The various designs of water flossers make it possible to get a good cleaning out without the maneuvering required by hand-administered floss.

“Many people do not want to put their hands in their mouth, or they find food debris on the floss to be gross,” says Dr. Zoumboukos. It’s these patients of hers that she says are the most obvious candidates for using water flossers.

Here’s a little trick for improving your breath, from Dr. Aguilera: “You can increase the antibacterial benefits and directly fight bad breath by filling the water reservoir with a combination of alcohol-free mouth rinse and water,” he says. Do this before bed, and you’re likely to wake up with less harsh breath each morning, too.

How to Use a Water Flosser

Does the device work with your bathroom setup? They're not huge, but they're a lot bigger than a spool of floss. If it doesn't fit in your bathroom, it’s likely to get tucked away and forgotten—and that certainly isn’t the aim here.

You don’t want your first experience with the device to go awry—like, if the pressure is too high or the spray is too messy. So, Dr. Zoumboukos suggests pointing the head and testing it into your bathtub or shower, to get familiar with the settings and how the device handles. “There are different types of water flossers, and delivery systems which range from countertop delivery systems, to cordless systems, along with others, so practicing in a safe direction within the system is helpful,” she says. “Select a stream pressure that you feel you can safely control, and become familiar with the off-setting.”

Okay, you don’t want to have the pressure so high that this process hurts. But, if you finish a water flossing session that otherwise feels fine, and you notice a little bit of blood in the sink—don’t panic. The most likely verdict is that your gums were weak in one or more spots, and simply need adjusting to the new cleaning routine. If so, they’ll grow stronger—it’s no different from what happens when you use dental floss. That being said, if you notice persistent bleeding or sensitivity, speak with your doctor straight away, and stop using it until you have clarity on the situation.

How We Tested and Chose the Best Water Flossers

I live in a water-flossing household. We’ve always got one or two in rotation (spoiler alert—the few we love best are all represented on this roster). In my 11 years as a grooming writer and editor, I’ve tested dozens of these devices, and have landed on these tools as the best in show. Yes, you’ll see mostly familiar names on this roster, but for good reason: As with most grooming devices, I tend to throw my trust behind the brands that can invest the most money in testing, materials, ADA compliance, and innovation. There are a couple of newbies on the roster, too, but those familiar names like Philips Sonicare, Waterpik, and Panasonic continue to set the standard.

About Our Experts

For this article, Hurly got advice and insights on water flossers from two top docs in the dental field: Dr. Kate Zoumboukos of SW Austin Dental in Austin, Texas, and Dr. Nicolas Aguilera at Apa Aesthetic in New York City.