A dental cleaning appliance includes a handle and a fluid delivery system for delivering a burst of working fluid to the teeth of a user. Part of the fluid delivery system is moveable relative to the handle as the appliance is moved along the teeth of the user. A sensor provides an output which varies with movement of that part of the fluid delivery system relative to the handle. A control circuit actuates the delivery of working fluid to the teeth of the user depending on the output from the sensor.