Pumped-up toothbrush
Lazy brusher? Enter bells and whistles.
If you regularly brush and floss, you can stop reading. For the rest of us, the novelty of a fancy brush might help with the twice-daily two minutes required for healthy pearly whites. "Power toothbrushes can be worth the cost because they can help you brush for the appropriate amount of time," says Charles Perle, DMD, of the Academy of General Dentistry. Also, electric toothbrushes with rotation-oscillation action actually work better than manual, research says. We say whatever gets you brushing is healthy.
Prescription drugs
When available, generics can save you money.
"If a generic drug is available, it's almost always smart to buy it," says Don Kemper, CEO of Healthwise, a consumer-health-information company. Generic prescription drugs are legally required to have the same active ingredients as brand-name varieties, although they must look slightly different, so they may be a different color or shape. But they definitely cost less: Pharmacies receive $32 for generic meds, compared with $111 for name-brand versions, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation; and co-pays for generics are about $11, on average, compared with $24 to $38 for name brands.
Ask your doctor about the generic type of any prescription drug you take. If she thinks it's right for you (in rare instances, there may be a reason you should stick with a brand name), have her check the "Generic OK" box on the prescription.
