A dental cleaning appliance includes a handle and a fluid delivery system. The fluid delivery system includes a nozzle for delivering a burst of working fluid to the teeth of a user. The nozzle moves 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 nozzle 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. The control circuit is configured to adjust a parameter of the delivery to the teeth of the user, such as the volume of working fluid within a delivery, depending on the variation with time of the output from the sensor.