Dental plaque removal efficacy of a battery-powered toothbrush vs. a control Japanese manual toothbrush.
OBJECTIVE
Recently, a new powered toothbrush has been marketed with a design that fundamentally differs from other marketed powered toothbrushes, in that it incorporates a round oscillating head, in conjunction with fixed bristles. The objective of this study was to compare the plaque removal efficacy of a control manual toothbrush (Lion Dentor Systema) to this experimental powered toothbrush (Crest SpinBrush) following a single use.


METHODS
This study was a randomized, controlled, examiner-blind, 4-period crossover design which examined plaque removal with the two toothbrushes following a single use in 36 subjects. Plaque was scored before and after brushing using the Turesky Modification of the Quigley-Hein Index.


RESULTS
Baseline plaque scores were 2.90 for the experimental toothbrush and 2.95 for the control toothbrush treatment groups. With respect to all surfaces examined, the experimental toothbrush delivered an adjusted (via analysis of covariance) mean difference between baseline and post-brushing plaque scores of 0.70 while the control toothbrush delivered an adjusted mean difference of 0.54. The difference between treatment groups was statistically significant (P < 0.001). The experimental toothbrush removed, on average, 29.6% more plaque than the control toothbrush. With respect to buccal surfaces, the experimental toothbrush delivered an adjusted mean difference between baseline and post-brushing plaque scores of 1.09 while the control toothbrush delivered an adjusted mean difference of 0.90. This difference between treatment groups was also statistically significant (P = 0.001) and represents, on average, 21.1% more plaque removal with the experimental toothbrush. Results on lingual surfaces also demonstrated statistically significantly (P< 0.001) greater plaque removal for the experimental toothbrush with an average of 83.3% more plaque removal.
Bartizek
Robert D
RD
The Procter & Gamble Company, Mason, OH 45040-9462, USA.
Biesbrock
Aaron R
AR
D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D004396:Coloring Agents; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013499:Surface Properties; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D004396:Coloring Agents