The additional effect of a dentifrice on the instant efficacy of toothbrushing: a crossover study.
BACKGROUND
Inconclusive evidence exists in the literature with regard to the additional (beneficial) mechanical effect of a dentifrice on plaque removal. A previous split-mouth study found that a dentifrice did not contribute to plaque removal. Because of limitations of the split-mouth model, a crossover design was used to evaluate whether a commercially available dentifrice had an additional effect on mechanical plaque removal during manual toothbrushing.


METHODS
Thirty-six subjects were given a manual toothbrush and a standard dentifrice. After a 48-hour plaque accumulation, subjects brushed under supervision with or without a dentifrice (total time of 2 minutes) in a 2 x 2 crossover design.


RESULTS
Plaque reductions were 50% with and 56% without the use of dentifrice. This 6% difference was statistically significant (P = 0.034). Explorative analysis showed that brushing without a dentifrice was more effective in removing plaque on the approximal surfaces.


CONCLUSIONS
The use of a dentifrice did not contribute to mechanical plaque removal during manual toothbrushing. It seemed that the mechanical action provided by the toothbrush was the main factor in the plaque-removing process.
Paraskevas
S
S
Department of Periodontology, Academic Center for Dentistry Amsterdam, The Netherlands. s.paraskevas@acta.nl
Rosema
N A F
NA
Versteeg
P
P
Timmerman
M F
MF
van der Velden
U
U
van der Weijden
G A
GA
D000328:Adult; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000628:therapy*; D003802:Dentifrices / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012969:Sodium Fluoride / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000379:methods*
D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D003802:Dentifrices; D012969:Sodium Fluoride