Clinical evaluation of the plaque removal efficacy of three toothbrushes

A single-blind, randomized triple crossover study was conducted to compare the plaque removal effectiveness of three toothbrushes: Sunstar Do New Type, Reach Compact Head, and New Dental-H. Thirty-three female students were recruited from a dental school and a dental hygiene school. All subjects brushed with a control toothbrush for the first week and with each one of the three test toothbrushes in each subsequent one-week period. Plaque removal efficacy was determined by subtracting the plaque score for the test toothbrush from that of the control toothbrush. The Sunstar Do New Type toothbrush had a significantly (p<0.05) higher plaque removal efficacy than the other two toothbrushes. The differences were prominent on the distal line angle of the second molars. Differences in plaque removal efficacy between the Reach Compact Head and the New Dental-H toothbrushes were not statistically significant (p<0.05) in this study.