Philips Sonicare brush head types, explained
C1, C2, C3, G3, S2, W and A3 in Philips' own words, plus the reason the 2x, 7x and 10x plaque numbers cannot be compared with each other.
Oohunt Deal Desk · Buying guides · October 24, 2026 · 7 min read
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The letter is the family and the number is the generation. C is plaque control, G is gum care, S is sensitive, W is whitening, A is all-in-one. C3 is a later plaque-control head than C2, not a different job. That is the entire naming system, and it is more useful than any of the numbers printed next to it.
One fit rule before the rest, because it is the only one that matters here: the click-on heads fit any Philips Sonicare handle except PowerUp Battery and Essence, and Philips One takes its own. If you are not sure which handle you have, the fit guide works through identifying it.
What Philips says about each head
Taken from the current head listing and the page Philips writes for dental professionals, which is the only one that describes every head in a line.
| Head | What Philips says | Bristles |
|---|---|---|
| C1SimplyClean | Removes 2x more plaque | Medium soft |
| C2Plaque Control | Removes 7x more plaque | Medium soft |
| C3Premium Plaque Control | For patients with imperfect brushing technique and plaque buildup | Soft |
| G3Premium Gum Care | 7x healthier gums in 2 weeks, and removes 10x more plaque | Soft |
| S2Sensitive | Removes 10x more plaque, gentle yet effective cleaning | Extra soft |
| WDiamondClean | 100% whiter teeth in one week, and removes 7x more plaque | Medium |
| A3Premium All-in-One | For patients who have multiple oral care issues such as plaque buildup, gingivitis or staining | Soft |
Philips also makes a For Kids head in two sizes, which it positions for young patients learning healthy oral care habits. Those are covered in electric toothbrushes for kids.
Why 10x is not better than 7x
This is the part worth slowing down for, because every comparison page online gets it wrong.
Philips prints a plaque multiplier on nearly every head: 2x on SimplyClean, 7x on C2 and on DiamondClean, 10x on Sensitive and on Gum Care. Read down that column and it looks like a ladder, with Sensitive at the top.
It is not a ladder. Every one of those figures is measured against a manual toothbrush, not against another Sonicare head, and the conditions are not even the same between them. The Sensitive head’s 10x is footnoted as being in hard-to-reach areas. DiamondClean’s whitening claim is footnoted as being in white mode. They are five separate comparisons with a manual brush, run differently, and nothing Philips publishes converts between them.
So the numbers tell you that powered brushing beats manual brushing, which you already knew. They do not tell you which head to buy.
What actually separates them
Bristle stiffness, which Philips does publish. This is the one spec that is comparable across the range, because it is the same scale for every head: Sensitive is extra soft, Gum Care and the premium heads are soft, the plaque-control heads are medium soft, DiamondClean is medium. If your gums are sore or your teeth react to cold, that column is the one to read.
Bristle shape.DiamondClean has diamond-shaped bristles and a central stain-removal pad, which is the physical reason it is the whitening head. Sensitive uses long, thin, ultra-soft bristles, more than three thousand of them by Philips’ count.
What the handle does with it. On connected handles, Philips says BrushSync uses RFID so the head and handle sync to set the brushing mode and intensity, and to work out when the head is due. Philips is specific that this is only on connected brushes and not on the Sonicare 2300, so on a simpler handle the head is just a head.
The price per head. The premium heads cost more per brush than the plaque-control ones, and the gap over a year is larger than any difference the marketing describes.
Knowing when one is finished
Philips builds the answer into the bristles: the blue ones fade to white within three months of normal use. The ADA says every three or four months, or sooner if the bristles are frayed, which lands in the same place. A connected handle will also tell you.
That is the single biggest lever in this whole article. A worn S2 cleans worse than a fresh C1, whatever either box says. More on the signs in how often to replace your toothbrush.
So which should you buy?
If you have a reason, the table gives you the match: sore gums point at S2 or G3, staining at W, and A3 is what Philips offers when more than one of those applies at once. Without a reason, buy whichever family suits your bristle preference in the largest pack you will get through, and put the saving towards replacing it on time.
If you are choosing between brands rather than between Sonicare heads, sonic versus oscillating covers what the two mechanisms do, and Oral-B brush head types is the other half of this page.
A note on third-party heads
Generic click-on heads sell for a fraction of the price, and we have no way to tell a good one from a bad one: bristle quality and how well a head seats are not things a listing can prove, and a non-Philips head cannot carry the chip a connected handle looks for. Every pick below is Philips’ own.
Sonicare heads by family
Prices change often, so check the current one on Amazon.
What we would buy (4)
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- Check price on Amazon
Philips SonicareG3 Gum Care brush heads, 2-pack
Opens Amazon in a new tab.The gum-care family, which Philips lists as soft. A click-on head, so it fits almost any Sonicare handle.
- Check price on Amazon
Philips SonicareS2 Sensitive brush heads, 3-pack
Opens Amazon in a new tab.The softest family Philips makes, listed as extra soft, for teeth and gums that react to everything else.
- Check price on Amazon
Philips SonicareW2 Optimal White brush heads, 8-pack
Opens Amazon in a new tab.The whitening family bought in bulk, which is how the running cost of a Sonicare comes down.
- Check price on Amazon
Philips SonicarePhilips One by Sonicare brush heads, 2-pack (BH1022)
Opens Amazon in a new tab.For Philips One handles, which take none of the click-on heads above despite the Sonicare name.
No prices or star ratings here. Prices change daily and we do not track them, so Amazon shows you the current one. Nothing on this list has been tested.
Common questions
What do the letters on Sonicare brush heads mean?
They are families, not grades. C is plaque control, G is gum care, S is sensitive, W is whitening and A is Philips' all-in-one. The number after the letter is the generation, so C3 is a later plaque-control head than C2, not a different purpose.
Which Sonicare brush head is best?
Philips does not say, because it never compares its heads with each other. Every head's plaque figure is measured against a manual toothbrush, so a 10x head and a 7x head are two separate manual comparisons rather than a ranking.
What is the difference between C2 and C3?
Both are plaque-control heads. Philips positions the premium C3 for people with imperfect brushing technique and plaque buildup, and lists the C2 as medium soft with a 7x more plaque claim. The practical differences are bristle feel and price.
Which Sonicare head is softest?
S2 Sensitive. Philips lists its bristle stiffness as extra soft, describes them as long, thin and ultra-soft, and positions the head for sensitive teeth and gums. G3 Gum Care is listed as soft, a step up from that.
Do all Sonicare brush heads fit all Sonicare handles?
The click-on heads fit any Philips Sonicare handle except PowerUp Battery and Essence, and Philips One takes its own heads. Older Essence, Elite and Xtreme handles use screw-on e-Series heads instead.
Do Sonicare heads tell the handle which mode to use?
On connected handles, yes. Philips says BrushSync uses RFID so the handle and head sync to set the brushing mode and intensity, and to track when the head is due. Philips notes it is only on connected brushes and not on the Sonicare 2300.
Caring for whichever you choose is in how to clean toothbrush heads. More oral care sits in health & household.