Improved plaque removal efficacy with a new manual toothbrush

Area of Science:

• Oral hygiene research
• Dental product efficacy studies
• Clinical trial methodology

Background:

• Manual toothbrushes are essential tools for daily oral hygiene.
• Assessing the comparative efficacy of different toothbrush designs is crucial for public dental health.
• Plaque removal efficacy is a key indicator of toothbrush performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate and compare the plaque removal efficacy and safety of two manual toothbrushes: Oral-B Exceed and Asian Colgate 360 masculine.
• To determine which toothbrush provides superior plaque reduction in a clinical setting.

Main Methods:

• An examiner-blind, randomized, four-period crossover clinical trial was conducted.
• Forty-seven participants were analyzed after baseline plaque assessment using the Rustogi et al. Modified Navy Plaque Index (RMNPI) and Turesky et al. Modified Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (TQHPI).
• Plaque levels were measured after single-use brushing sessions with each assigned toothbrush.

Main Results:

• Both toothbrushes were found to be safe and effective in reducing plaque after a single use.
• The Oral-B Exceed significantly outperformed the Asian Colgate 360 masculine in whole mouth plaque removal (18.1% reduction via TQHPI; 9% via RMNPI).
• Oral-B Exceed also demonstrated significantly greater efficacy in removing marginal (p=0.001) and approximal (p=0.022) plaque.

Conclusions:

• The Oral-B Exceed manual toothbrush is significantly more effective at removing whole mouth, approximal, and gingival margin plaque compared to the Asian Colgate 360 masculine.
• The findings support the superior plaque removal capabilities of the Oral-B Exceed design in a clinical comparison.