Black gunk inside Oral-B electric toothbrush head?

[MineMineMineMama]

Hi I am wondering if anyone else has experienced black gunk coming from inside the body of their electric toothbrush?
I have just had an awful experience with Kenny from the Oral-B customer service team who dismissed my concerns, refused to escalate my complaint and also refused to send me copies of our recorded telephone conversation as well 😣

My daughter’s toothbrush had black gunk coming out of the head, so I replaced it. Only for it to happen again within weeks. So I flushed the new head out (see pics) and was horrified by the amount of chunks of black that came out. Again 11 days later, the same thing again so I photographed again. I stopped my daughter using it and investigated, spoke to Kenny at Oral-B sent him pics and videos… He has said that this is normal and not a fault but a build up of toothpaste (even though every week when I clean our bathroom I clean all our toothbrushes). My son’s toothbrush which is exactly the same model and was purchased at the same time is fine.

Feeling utterly fobbed off and concerned that Oral-B would dismiss this as normal. It’s gross to think that this is what is lurking inside some toothbrushes which children are potentially swallowing.

I've had this with my last 2 Oral B electric toothbrushes! Annoying.

Our Oral B electric toothbrush is 15+ years old and has no black gunk or mould on it. The battery charge doesn't last quite as long as it used to, but otherwise it works perfectly. We each have our own brush heads and the body and head are separated and rinsed after each use.

@MineMineMineMama my daughter had this with one head and when we broke it open it was actually a dead and rotting spider which had been there since she got the toothbrush! just replace the head.

Ah it could be carbon actually - it does look like the stuff inside a brita filter.

Are they using heads from the same batch? Or eg does she have princess pattern and he has Star wars? I'd expect to see the same stuff inside a new head from the same pack if it's a batch fault.

The heads don't have a motor in them though. The little metal stick thing that protrudes from the toothbrush vibrates and attaches to some wire kind of contraption inside the head which makes it rotate. The motor is inside the handle and should be totally sealed from water ingress.

Oh hang on sorry, I see what other posters are saying - to check if it's coming from the handle and by the metal sticky out bit.

😲😱🤢

Is it the Frozen toothbrush? I'm horrified by what I found in my daughter's toothbrush head as well, and like you even after changing it.

I'm very worried, it surely is a health and safety issue here...

We started taking the head off every time but it doesn't make any difference. There are two holes in the adult ones, only one in the child version which makes me think the moist can't escape properly.

It's definitely mould - huge number of threads about this on Reddit and elsewhere. I am horrified! Will never buy this brand again.

It's not just inside the head but also the stem of the brush as well. Awful!

This thread made me check my DD's toothbrush because she never removes the head except when its time to change it to a new one - no black mould or gunk, absolutely nothing nasty at all. I guess she rinses the brush really well!

This black stuff coming down the toothbrush shouldn't be happening. I had a sonicare toothbrush before I foolishly bought Oral B and had this happen. It happens right away after replacing the head. Never had this problem with Sonicare. It's really annoying.

After every use I separate the toothbrush head from the base and rinse them both. I then shake the head quite vigorously to limit the dampness left inside. I store them separately with the brush head upwards so anything inside can continue to dry out.

I’ve been careful to do this since reading the start of this thread several months ago. 😀

Since changing from a Sonicare to an Oral B iO a few years ago my dentist doesn’t seem to need to spend much time at all removing any plaque on my teeth at my six-monthly check up. She says she has an iO herself.

Hey OP. Did you ever get to the bottom of this? Have the exact same issue. We all have Oral B brushes and only my daughter’s does this. She also cleans hers better than all of us. Mine is ancient and does not do this.

Yeah I clean toothbrush heads with denture cleaning tabs in water. Nerve in my life have I seen the like of that mould! 🤢

Yes! I have the same issue despite taking off the tooth brush head every time my daughter brushes and throughly rinsing both parts.
I have an electric toothbrush of my own which is a different brand and never has this issue, and I don’t ever remove the head.