A woman says she is “lucky to be alive” – after her unplugged electric toothbrush exploded and burst into flames.
Charlotte Bowers, 33, had no issues with the Oral B brush for eight months, before it spontaneously combusted whilst she was asleep on February 2026.
The explosion caused the toothbrush to set fire, but thankfully the steel frame of the bathroom mirror prevented the flames from spreading far.
Charlotte, from Manchester said that if it wasn’t for the mirror, she and her partner could have ended up dead.
She said she will now never use an electric toothbrush again, as it’s “not worth the risk”.
And she said Oral B have only offered her $46 or a new toothbrush – despite the $267 cost to fix the damage.
Charlotte, who works for Network Rail, and first told her story to Talk To The Press said: “It scared the living daylights out of me.
“I can’t believe something like that would happen, I’ve never heard of this happening before.
“I walked into the bathroom one morning and saw my electric toothbrush had exploded in the middle of the night and caught on fire.
“I’m very lucky to still be alive because the only thing that prevented the fire from spreading is the steel frame of the mirror.
“There was no warning, it wasn’t dodgy or anything, it had been completely fine for eight months.
“There’s no way it could have been anything I did, as I always kept it dry and I hadn’t left it on charge.
“It left me shell shocked for about a week.
“I’m never going to buy anything from Oral B again, I could be dead.
“I’m never even going near any electric toothbrush again, it’s not worth the risk.”
Charlotte purchased an Oral B Cross Action toothbrush in May 2025, and for eight months, had no issues whatsoever with it.
Then, one morning in February 2026, she opened the door to her bathroom and was horrified to discover that the electric toothbrush had exploded during the night and caused a fire.
The toothbrush had been stored in a pot above the sink, away from water, and wasn’t on charge at the time of the explosion, so Charlotte has no idea what caused the incident.
She said the explosion tripped all of the electrics in the house, but she hadn’t heard anything during the night.
“I have no idea what time it happened, or how it happened,” she said.
After the toothbrush combusted, the flames travelled up the wall, but thankfully, the steel frame of the bathroom mirror prevented them from travelling any further.
Charlotte said that if the mirror hadn’t been there, the whole house would have gone up in flames, and she would have ended up dead.
The flames also hit the extractor fan, which luckily wasn’t on, completely destroying it.
The fire left the bathroom covered in black smoke, so Charlotte and her partner had to repaint the whole bathroom, spending $267 on special paint that masked the smell of the smoke.
Charlotte has complained about the situation to Oral B and asked for compensation to cover the cost of the paint.
“They offered me $46 for a new toothbrush instead,” she said.
“It’s completely insulting, I could be dead.
“I’m not asking for thousands of pounds of compensation, I just want them to cover the cost of the paint.”
A spokesperson for Oral B said: “We understand how upsetting this experience must have been and take any safety reports very seriously.
“Though the cause of the fire remains unknown, it’s important to know that an unplugged cordless toothbrush does not contain enough energy to cause a fire.”
