I have been using electric toothbrushes for the last four years and if you have ever used one you know how thorough and efficient they are. It still surprises me that some people have never tried one, despite them being so practical and significantly more effective than manual toothbrushes. I recently received the new Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean toothbrush and Philips AirFloss Pro, and was astonished by how much oral health care technology has developed since I purchased my last toothbrush.

So when my new friend Ralf told me he was considering buying a new toothbrush, I knew it was my opportunity to introduce to him to the Phillips oral health care range and I jumped right at it.

I met Ralf a few weeks ago, soon after relocating to Berlin for the summer. Since meeting he has given me invaluable advice on places to visit, restaurants to eat at, internet providers to use and even which rental car services are best. He’s been incredibly helpful and has made my stay in Berlin so much easier and more enjoyable, so it was great to be able to repay him with some of my knowledge on oral health care.

Recently we caught up at mine for a drink and ended up discussing where technology is going and how it’s evolving. While Ralf is generally well informed when it comes to gadgets and technology, when he mentioned he was thinking of buying a new electric toothbrush, I knew it was my time to introduce him to the new Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean and Philips AirFloss Pro. I told him how amazed I’ve been by the Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean’s inbuilt sonic technology that provides 62,000 brush movements per minute and delivers outstanding stain removal results with whiter teeth in just one week*. Philips oral health care technology has even advanced to the point where the Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean range prompts users to change their brush heads regularly through unique BrushSync Technology. Each brush tracks how long the brush head has been used, and how hard the user has been brushing to predict precisely when the brush head becomes in- effective and needs replacing.

It was great hanging out and introducing Ralf to my new toothbrush and airfloss and he can’t wait to start using them himself. It’s brilliant to be able to share some of my own knowledge around oral health with Ralf, particularly as I’ve learnt so much from him in recent weeks.

For anyone who is also planning a move to Germany, I’ve included some of Ralf’s best pieces of advice below. But if there’s one piece of advice you should take from this post it’s to look after your oral health. Whether you 16 or 60, flossing and brushing effectively are really important and worth investing in!

The five golden pieces of advice I’ve received from Ralf since moving to Berlin

1. In German, empty bottles = money. The Germans call it Pfand. Locals often leave their bottles outside, beside the trash can to be collected. This is a kind way to give back to those in need in the community, as they can exchange the unwanted bottles for 25 cents for plastic or 8 cents for glass containers.

2. Clapping when the aeroplane lands It's very polite to applaud when your plane just landed. It’s always an entertaining clash taking a flight from the UK to Germany and witnessing the German half clapping upon landing while the rest look around utterly baffled. Especially when there’s a bit of a bumpy ride beforehand, it’s quite a nice gesture to show appreciation to the folks up front who managed to bring an enormous, flying metal bird back down to Earth safely.

3. Not crossing the street until it’s green- In the Anglophone world, it might seem like perfectly reasonable behaviour to step out into the road if you’ve scoured both horizons and not found a vehicle in sight.

4. Check what you’re downloading- If you've been to Germany you may know there are a few restrictions in place on downloading content online. Ralf warned me that you can land a hefty fine for merely downloading an MP3 song from any unauthorised file sharing website, which was definitely good to know!

5. Most importantly, it’s never too late to follow your dreams- Ralf spent the early years of his career working in sales for a hugely successful beverage company, but always wanted to create something of his own. So one day he decided to follow his dream, travelling to Italy to study the art of gelato. Now he's the proud owner of the successful cafe Gimme Gelato and runs it with his team who create tasteful works of deserts every day. Ralf taught me the importance of taking a risk for something you're passionate about, although others might not believe in you at the beginning of your journey it should not discourage you but inspire you to show them you're going to succeed.

The Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean range comes in 8 colour choices and also, includes a handy travel case and 2-week battery life as well as a 2-Year warranty and 28-day money back guarantee.

The Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean is available to purchase Here The Philips AirFloss Pro is available to purchase Here

The Philips Sonicare ProtectiveClean is available from Philips.co.uk, John Lewis, Boots and Amazon, RRP from £179.99. The Philips AirFloss Pro is available from Philips.co.uk, John Lewis, Boots and Amazon, RRP from £80