title: Plaque-removing effect of a toothbrush, dental floss, and a toothpick.
abstract: The ability of three different oral hygiene devices to remove 2-day-old bacterial deposits was evaluated on 21 young adults with healthy periodontia. On buccal tooth surfaces, the cleaning effect of a multitufted nylon brush was superior to that of a wooden toothpick or unwaxed dental floss. On lingual surfaces, the toothpick was as effective as the brush. On the visible portions of proximal surfaces, all three devices were equally efficient. A combined cleaning exercise with all three instruments together yielded significantly better results than did the use of each single device. Eight subjects were able to remove all disclosable deposits.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care / Q000295:instrumentation; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D012107:Research Design; D014099:Toothbrushing