Condition of toothbrushes in use: correlation with behavioral and socio-economic factors.
Toothbrushes and questionnaires from 94 adult dentate individuals were analyzed. More than 97% of respondents said they brushed their teeth at least once a day, while 48% used more than one toothbrush (such as one at home and another at work). Only 47% said they preferred a soft nylon bristle, while 41% preferred medium and 10% a hard nylon bristle. More than 73% of subjects said they used their brushes for 3 months or longer. Examination of collected brushes by both objective and subjective criteria revealed a wide variation in wear; however, the majority of brushes did not appear to be 'worn-out'. No significant correlation was found between objective wear-index and the educational level of the user, annual household income of the user, or reported time in use of the brush. A significant (p less than 0.01) correlation was found between brush wear-index and the ability of the user to judge toothbrush wear.
Dean
D H
DH
University of Mississippi School of Dentistry, Jackson.
Beeson
L D
LD
Cannon
D F
DF
Plunkett
C B
CB
D000328:Adult; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000523:psychology