Tooth brushing habits in uninstructed adults--frequency, technique, duration and force.
Professional recommendations for individual oral hygiene mostly include tooth brushing at least twice daily for 2-3 min with gentle force using the Bass technique or modifications of it. This study evaluated whether habitual tooth brushing actually meets these standards. Uninstructed adults (n = 103; mean age 31 +/- 6 years; 61 female, 42 male) with habitual manual tooth brushing were given a self-administered questionnaire about the frequency of brushing and a computer system recorded their brushing technique, duration and force. The majority (79.6%) of participants brushed twice daily. The mean brushing duration was 96.6 +/- 36.0 s, the mean brushing force was 2.3 +/- 0.7 N (max. 4.1 N), and no significant differences were found for quadrants. Most subjects (73.8%) brushed with circling, 8.7% with horizontal/scrubbing, 13.6% with horizontal/circling and 3.9% with vertical/sweeping movements. Modified Bass technique was not observed. When appropriate brushing habits were defined as brushing at least twice daily for 120 s with a brushing force of less than 3 N and with circling or vertical sweeping movements, only 25.2% of the participants fulfilled all criteria, emphasising the ongoing need for oral hygiene education.
Department of Conservative and Preventive Dentistry, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Giessen, Germany. carolina.ganss@dentist.med.uni-giessen.de
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Ganss
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Schlueter
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Preiss
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Klimek
D000328:Adult; D003799:Dental Stress Analysis; D005260:Female; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult