Plaque removal efficacy of a high bristle count toothbrush compared to a conventional toothbrush

Sammanfattning: Objectives: A manual toothbrush is most often used to perform oral hygiene; however, there are various designs on the market. The aim of the present cross-over study was to evaluate the effect of bristle count on plaque removal efficacy. Methods: Twenty-one prospective participants underwent a clinical screening on various eligibility criteria. Participants were allocated randomly to start either with the test brush (Curaprox CS 5460; 5460 bristles) or control brush (Oral-B Indicator Soft; 1230 bristles). After for a habituation period 7-10 days, the participants abstained from oral hygiene measures for 36 hours to allow plaque accumulation before the first assessment. The following parameters were assessed before and after unsupervised and uninstructed brushing at all teeth except wisdom teeth: Buccal/lingual plaque score (modified Quigley-Hein Index; mQHI), and presence/absence of interproximal plaque. The procedure was repeated with the other toothbrush Results: A total of 20 participants (7 female; 22-33 years) were included. Both toothbrushes allowed a significant plaque reduction at the buccal/lingual and interproximal surfaces (p<0.005). mQHI reduction from 2.5±0.2 to 1.5±0.5 and from 2.5±0.3 to 1.6±0.5 for the control and test toothbrush, respectively, and interproximal plaque reduction from 97±7 to 78±23% and from 97±8 to 79±21%, respectively. No significant difference was detected when comparing the toothbrushes. Conclusions: In terms of plaque removal the present study showed an equal efficiency for both manual toothbrushes with different bristle count; i.e., considering that no specific instructions have been provided to the participants, the higher bristle count did not result in a higher plaque removal.