Efficacy of plaque removal by two types of toothpick

To compare the efficacy of two types of interdental device, namely triangular woodstick and round toothpick, in the removal of interproximal dental plaque.

This study had a split-mouth design and was conducted on 15 individuals. After 72 h of dental plaque accumulation, the dental plaque was quantified by the Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (QHPI). Two quadrants were then randomly assigned for the use of triangular woodstick and the other two for the use of round toothpick. After the use of toothpicks, the QHPI was re-evaluated by a calibrated examiner, blinded to the types of toothpick used. The mean values of QHPI were calculated for both types of toothpick, before and after use. Comparison within and between groups was performed by the paired t test, at a significance level of 0.05.

Both the toothpicks provided significant reduction of QHPI, without any statistically significant difference between the types of toothpick (from 3.31 +/- 0.61 to 2.42 +/- 0.60 using triangular woodsticks and from 3.19 +/- 0.71 to 2.24 +/- 0.54 using round toothpicks, in the initial and the final periods, respectively). Individual comparison of proximal aspects by observation from buccal proximal and palatal/lingual proximal aspects revealed that round toothpicks removed a greater amount of plaque than triangular woodsticks in areas that were analysed by observation from the palatal/lingual proximal aspect.

No statistically significant differences were found between round toothpicks and triangular woodsticks in the removal of supragingival plaque.