An electric toothbrush in the middle of a Dopp kit stored strategically in a soft sided bag that you personally are carrying should not break. Plastic can be incredibly strong. Sonicare is a good brand. The probability of it breaking are low.

Now let’s look at the consequences. What happens if it does break. Will there be severe consequences? Thinking it over you’ll alway have access to a manual brush. What are the consequences of not having a electric toothbrush for the rest of the trip? I think they are fairly low.

Let’s look at this from a risk management standpoint. Assessing risk is comparing probability Vs consequences. Anything in the high probability or high consequences category has to be mitigated. Anything else you can usually use some lower level mitigation or choose to ignore. In this case, a lower level mitigation would be:

• budgeting for a replacement fancy toothbrush
  
• bring a a spare head
• buy a new head
• resort to a manual toothbrush.
• buy a packable electric that comes in its own integrated case like the Phillips One.

Back to our problem:

The probability of the neck breaking are low. The consequences of the neck breaking are also fairly low, especially with the mitigation strategy in place.

Result: do not do anything else. You’re done. Enjoy your trip.

This is how you deal with the “what if” fears. Manage them. Pack lighter.