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A study comparing the plaque removal efficacy of an advanced rotation-oscillation power toothbrush to a new sonic
Karen Williams1, Kathy Rapley, Jan Huan
1University of Missouri at Kansas City, Kansas City, MO, USA.
Objective:
Recently, a new sonic power toothbrush has been marketed. The purpose of this study was to compare the plaque removal efficacy of a control rotation-oscillation power toothbrush (Oral-B Triumph) to this new sonic-powered toothbrush (Sonicare FlexCare) following a single brushing.
Methods:
This study was a randomized, controlled, examiner-blind, two-treatment, four-period crossover design, which examined plaque removal with the two toothbrushes following replicate single uses in 48 subjects. Plaque was scored before and after brushing using the Turesky Modification of the Quigley-Hein Plaque Index (TMQHPI).
Results:
Baseline plaque scores were 2.87 for the sonic toothbrush and 2.85 for the rotation-oscillation toothbrush treatment groups. With respect to all surfaces examined, the sonic toothbrush delivered an adjusted (via Analysis of Covariance) mean difference between baseline and post-brushing plaque scores of 0.95, while the rotation-oscillation toothbrush delivered an adjusted mean difference of 1.06. The difference between treatment groups was statistically significant (p = 0.003).
Conclusion:
The rotation-oscillation toothbrush delivered superior plaque removal by reducing plaque scores, on average, 12.1% more than the new sonic toothbrush.
