Blinded Clinical Evaluation of a New Toothbrush

Objectives: The purpose of this single-blind crossover study was to compare plaque removal associated with a new toothbrush, the Curvex™ (test), and a best-selling commercially available toothbrush, the Oral-B 40® (control). The test toothbrush has a convex head which follows the contour of both the upper and lower lingual arches. Its tapered bristle array provides optimal contact with all of the tooth surfaces and reduces bristle “splaying.” It has a curved neck and handle which allows deeper reach to the back molars by curving away from the roof of the mouth. Both toothbrushes have a texture range of soft (the test toothbrush uses a .006 filament, and the control toothbrush uses a .008 filament). Methods: Over a 5-week period, 21 subjects participated in this investigation. Ten of the subjects started with the test toothbrush, and the remaining subjects began with the control toothbrush. Crossover occurred after a 2-week use of each brush (a 1-week washout period in between). Plaque was scored before and after brushing using the Turesky modification of the Quigley-Hein index (T/Q-H). Results: Plaque scores were measured in each subject (up to 168 sites) on each of four occasions. The average baseline and test plaque scores for the control brush were 2.41 and 1.72; for the test brush these values were 2.34 and 1.69. Repeated measures ANOVA revealed no difference between brushes. Paired-comparison t-tests were conducted on each of the 168 evaluated sites, and no patterns of superiority for either brush were identified. Although both toothbrushes effectively reduced mean plaque scores, ANOVA demonstrated no significant difference between toothbrushes. Conclusion: The test toothbrush is as effective as the control toothbrush in removing plaque. Questionnaires returned by the subjects indicated a preference for the test toothbrush. This study was supported by Ergonomic Dental Technologies, Inc.