Effect of the Cybersonic® Toothbrush on Plaque and Gingivitis

Objectives: To evaluate the efficacy of two power toothbrushes (Cybersonic® and Braun Oral B 3D Excel) and one manual brush (Elmex super 29). Methods: 120 healthy volunteers took part in the parallel-design examiner-blind study. After screening examination and stratification by age, sex, and papillary bleeding index (PBI, MUEHLEMANN and SON), the participants were randomly assigned to two test groups (power toothbrushes, n=40 each) and a control group (manual toothbrush, n=40). Thereafter, each subject received a professional toothcleaning. Four weeks later, at baseline, the TURESKY-modification of the QUIGLEY-HEIN plaque index (PI), a modified approximal plaque index (API, LANGE et al.), and the PBI were recorded. From then on the subjects used the assigned toothbrush two times/day for three minutes each. All participants used Elmex toothpaste. Four and eight weeks after baseline, the indices were recorded again. Improvements between baseline and four weeks, and between baseline and eight weeks were calculated as medians. Kruskal-Wallis- and Mann-Whitney U test were used for statistical analysis. Results: Between baseline and four weeks, reductions for all indices could be found for both test brushes which were statistically significant superior to the manual brush (Cybersonic: API 0.21, PBI 0.25, QHI 0.23; Braun: API 0.20, PBI 0.39, QHI 0.22; manual brush: API 0.04, PBI 0.02, QHI 0.07 p<0.001). This was also found after eight weeks (Cybersonic: API 0.28, PBI 0.36, QHI 0.41; Braun: API 0.36, PBI 0.61, QHI 0.35; manual brush: API 0.03, PBI 0.10, QHI 0.08 p<0.001). The Oral B was superior to the Cybersonic with respect to the following improvements: API after eight weeks (p<0.05), PBI after four and eight weeks (p<0.01). Conclusion: Cybersonic and Oral B 3D Excel may be more efficacious than a manual toothbrush in removing plaque and preventing gingivitis. The study was supported by Charité Berlin grant #2003-714 and "Die Zahnbürste" München.