The first time I used a waterpik was I showered the entire room with water. I swiftly turned it off and decided I might want to read the information before working it. The instructions was very clearly pointed out that I should keep my lips partly closed, to prevent the water from spraying all over the place, but still allow the water to dribble out of the mouth and into the sink. Definitely lean over into the sink, because the higher you turn the water pressure up, the quicker that water is going to come back out of your mouth. This takes some getting used to. Once I had my mouth partly closed it was a whole lot less chaotic.
I tested the Waterpik out on settings 1 through 4, but by 4, the force of the water was strong enough that it was beginning to get a little painful on my gums. I suppose the more you use it, the higher the setting you could use with comfort as your gums get healthier and stronger from the stimulus.
Using just plain water, I cleaned around my full gum line, top and bottom, and when I was done I really did feel like my mouth was cleaner and closer to the “after dentist cleaning” you only seem to get after having your teeth cleaned at the dentist. I love this feeling !
Later I tried adding a little mouthwash with the water. This was even more pleasant and when I got done cleaning around and between the teeth and gums with the Waterpik and mouthwash rinse I really did feel like I had just walked out of the dentist's office for my annual cleaning. My tooth has never felt this clean after just brushing and flossing.
They say the Ultra Dental Water Jet is 93% more effective than flossing. I don't know if that's true or not, but I will say it was much more pleasant to squirt the water around in there (once I got the hang of it) than to try and slide the floss in and out between my teeth. Floss always gets caught around a few teeth and gets torn for me, so this is absolutely easier and faster than flossing for me.
My oldest boy loves it, too. He's going to be 7 on Saturday, and usually it's a bit of a test to get him in to brush his teeth. Once I set this machine on the border of the sink (and it doesn't take up a lot of room, either) he was attracted to brush and use the amusing little device. He uses one of the other tips (it comes with a variety) and just sets it on the lowest setting. I think he just likes to shower the bathroom with the over spray personally, but who am I to stop the kid from wanting cleaner teeth through better daily oral care?
Personally I love the waterpik and I will never stop using it !
