title: Clinical study on the plaque-removing ability of a new triple-headed toothbrush.
abstract: The aim of this study was to determine the plaque removing ability of a new toothbrush with a u-shaped head (Superbrush) compared to a conventional manual toothbrush (Elmex) and an electric toothbrush with a rotating head (Braun Plak control). 36 healthy volunteers, aged 6-60 years, participated in this single blind cross-over study. They were randomly assigned to 3 groups (A, B, C) with 12 participants each. To obtain a plaque-free condition at the baseline, professional toothcleaning was performed in each participant. After instructions on how to use the toothbrushes, each group started the experiment with a different type of toothbrush. After 1 week of application, the Quigley-Hein plaque index (QHI) and the proximal plaque index (API) were used to assess the oral hygiene status of each participant. This was followed by 1 week of recess before each group switched to the next type of toothbrush. The duration of the study was 5 weeks. All examinations were performed by 1 examiner. Compared to the 2 other brushes, the Superbrush was more effective in removing plaque (medians of QHI: 0.84 versus 1.56 (Elmex) and 1.56 (Braun); p<0.001; medians of API: 0.69 versus 0.94 (Elmex) and 0.87 (Braun); p<0.001). The study indicated that the new toothbrush may be an effective alternative to commonly used toothbrushes.
authors.affiliation: Charité, Humboldt-University Berlin, School of Dentistry, Department of Operative and Preventive Dentistry and Endodontics, Germany. Stefan.Zimmer@t-online.de
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zimmer
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Didner
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Roulet
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000628:therapy*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D003777:Dental Prophylaxis; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015588:Observer Variation; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D009911:Oral Hygiene Index; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation*