Comparative Evaluation of Three Manual Toothbrushes on Removing Dental Plaque

Objectives: The primary objective of this IRB approved, examiner-blind, three-way crossover, single-center study was to evaluate the supragingival plaque removal efficacy of the REACH® TOTAL CARE FLOSS CLEAN™ manual toothbrush as compared to the Oral-B® Advantage Plus and Colgate® 360° manual toothbrushes.  Methods: Each subject had 3 visits to the clinical site having refrained from oral hygiene procedures for at least 18-24 hours prior to each visit.  At each visit, subjects received an oral examination and pre-brushing plaque level assessments according to the Rustogi Modified Navy Plaque Index (RMNPI).  Qualified subjects with a whole mouth mean RMNPI score ≥ 0.60 were randomly assigned to their treatment sequence and instructed to brush with the provided standard fluoride dentifrice in their usual manner for one-minute, supervised.  A post-brushing plaque assessment was conducted to evaluate the plaque removal efficacy.  Subjects returned to the clinical site after a ≥ 48 hour rest period between visits.  Subjects returned to their normal oral care routine during the rest periods.  Between-treatment comparisons were based on Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), with sequence, treatment and period as fixed effects, subject within sequence as a random effect and pre-brushing score as a covariate.  Results: Results demonstrate that REACH® TOTAL CARE FLOSS CLEAN™ toothbrush removed statistically significantly more whole mouth plaque and plaque from places that are hard to reach than Colgate® 360° and Oral-B® Advantage Plus toothbrushes (p<0.001, respectively).

Conclusion: REACH® TOTAL CARE FLOSS CLEAN ™ manual toothbrush demonstrated superior plaque removal compared to Colgate® 360° and Oral-B® Advantage Plus manual toothbrushes.