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6 Best Water Flossers, According to Our Tests
Bid plaque buildup goodbye with these top-rated countertop and cordless models from Waterpik, Philips and more.

We carefully reviewed this article in May 2023 and stand by our top-rated picks.
Like a gentle power washer for your mouth, the best water flosser leaves your teeth with that super-clean, just-left-the-dentist-feeling. While anyone who wants to go the extra mile with oral care can benefit from using a water flosser, people with braces and dental implants may find them especially useful. So how exactly do water flossers work? "Water flossers use a pressurized stream of water, in many cases a pulsating stream, to remove food particles and plaque stuck between teeth and along the gum line," says Adam S. Harwood, DMD, a New York City-based endodontist. While water flossers, also known as oral irrigators, are not meant to be a replacement for using traditional floss, they are a great way to clear out any extra debris left behind (and easier to navigate between teeth).
To find the most reliable water flossers you can buy, the Good Housekeeping Institute Beauty, Health & Sustainability Lab put 12 of the most popular models on the market to the test, evaluating their ease of use, performance and overall satisfaction. Our partner lab Quiet Mark rated the noisiness of each model. We also sent water flossers to 119 consumer testers, who each used their flosser every day for at least one week. After gathering nearly 2,000 consumer survey responses and evaluating our own in-Lab testing data, we narrowed down the options to this list of the best water flossers of 2023, including the best models from Waterpik.
Our top picks:
Read more about our picks below, and find answers to all your questions about how to use water flossers according to dental professionals at the end of this guide. Looking for more ways to up your dental care game? Check out our roundups of the best electric toothbrushes and the best natural toothpastes, as well as the best teeth-whitening kits.

Jacqueline (she/her) covers all things e-commerce in beauty, lifestyle and beyond for the Good Housekeeping Institute. Before joining GH in 2021, she was a style and beauty reviews fellow at Insider, testing viral trends, reviewing sustainable brands and more. She's a graduate of the University of Florida's School of Journalism, with a specialty in magazines and mass communication.
Chiara (she/her) is a reviews analyst in the Beauty, Health and Sustainability Lab at the Good Housekeeping Institute, where she conducts hands-on testing of health and beauty products. She earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Columbia University. Before joining GH in 2022, she worked as a cosmetic chemist, formulating skincare products for a variety of brands and learning to decode ingredient lists, evaluate ingredient efficacy and scrutinize product claims.
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