Toothbrushes with graduated wear: correlation with in vitro cleansing performance

A display set of toothbrushes with graduated natural wear was shown to 268 adult respondents who were asked to indicate which brushes were "worn out." The same brushes were then compared against each other for their ability to remove artificial plaque in models of interproximal and facial surface cleansing effectiveness. Despite pronounced differences in the degree of wear among the toothbrushes, no correlation was found between visual estimation of toothbrush effectiveness and its cleansing ability in the models tested. It is possible that other variables (toothbrushing technique, force applied, manual skills) exert a greater influence on plaque removal than brush wear and explain the results of this experiment.