Clinical evaluation of the efficacy of a battery-powered toothbrush. results from two independent studies.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the clinical efficacy with respect to plaque removal of a battery-operated power toothbrush (Dr. Johns Spin Brush Classic) with two manual toothbrushes, a standard ADA flat trim reference brush and the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush.


METHODS
Efficacy was evaluated in two independent studies using a randomized, single-use, cross-over design. Healthy adult subjects from a general population brushed their teeth for a timed 1 min and plaque was scored before and after brushing was completed. In Study 1 (Spin Brush vs. ADA toothbrush), plaque was scored using the modified Quigley and Hein Plaque Index, while in Study 2 (Spin Brush vs. CrossAction) plaque was scored using the Modified Navy Plaque Index. In addition, a hard and soft tissue examination was carried out before and after brushing to allow evaluation of safety.


RESULTS
In Study 1, both the ADA toothbrush and the Spin Brush significantly reduced levels of whole mouth and approximal plaque (P < 0.0005); however, the Spin Brush was not significantly more effective than the manual brush. Relative plaque reduction for the whole mouth was 35.6 +/- 16.0% for the Spin Brush compared to 38.9 +/- 14.9% for the manual toothbrush (P < 0.047), and, for the approximal surfaces, 32.7 +/- 14.6% and 36.3 +/- 13.7%, respectively (P = 0.024). In Study 2, both toothbrushes significantly reduced plaque levels (P < 0.0001), but, as for Study 1, the CrossAction manual toothbrush was more effective than the Spin Brush. For whole mouth, marginal and approximal sites, respectively, the Spin Brush reduced plaque by 54.3%, 43.5% and 62.0%, compared with 58.6%, 47.5% and 67.1% for the CrossAction toothbrush. The difference in favor of the CrossAction brush was statistically significant (P < 0.0005) for all areas.
Dörfer
C E
CE
Department of Conservative Dentistry and Periodontology, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Heidelberg, Germany. christof_doerfer@med.uni-heidelberg.de
von Bethlenfalvy
E R
ER
Pioch
T
T
Galustians
H J
HJ
Qaqish
J
J
Sharma
N C
NC
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004396:Coloring Agents; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D004867:Equipment Design; D004869:Equipment Safety; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013499:Surface Properties; D014070:Tooth / Q000473:pathology; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004396:Coloring Agents