[Comparative studies on the cleansing action of short head toothbrushes with various bristle fields]

With 20 probands (dental students) comparative clinical-experimental studies on the cleaning effect of short headed toothbrushes with different arrangement of the bristles were performed. The following was found: 1. Position and form of the bristle bundles of short headed toothbrushes--as far as they are at all useful--do not appear to have any influence on the efficiency of the cleaning of teeth in a periodontally healthy dentition without any special positional anomalies of the teeth. 2. Cleaning the oral dental surfaces involves considerable difficulties and usually is successful only after repeated instructing. 3. Mesial and distal dental surfaces are cleaned to about the same extent. 4. Even with skilled persons (instructed dental students) optimum cleaning of the teeth is achieved only after about 4 minutes of intensive cleaning.