Manual and Powered Toothbrushing on Subjects With Moderate Gingivitis

Objectives: To evaluate twice-daily powered toothbrushing, compared to manual toothbrushing, on surface plaque, gingival bleeding, and inflammation, following a 6-week period of home use, in a population exhibiting moderate gingivitis.
Methods: This was an IRB-approved, single-blind, randomized, parallel clinical trial. Participants were generally healthy adults from the United States, who were 18-75 years, non-smokers and habitual manual toothbrush users. Eligible subjects presented with a gingival bleeding score of 1.0 on at least 50 sites. There were two treatment groups: twice daily use of a Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige (PSP), or a manual toothbrush (MTB). All subjects used the same fluoride-containing dentifrice. Subjects were seen at Weeks 2 and 6 for safety and efficacy assessment (surface plaque, gingival bleeding and inflammation).
Results: There were 104 subjects screened and randomized, 52 subjects to the PSP group, and 52 to the MTB group. Of these, 99 subjects completed the study. The mean age of all randomized subjects was 40.7 (SD=10.8) years. There were 78 (75.0%) females and 26 (25.0%) males.
At Baseline, plaque (p-value = 0.40), gingival inflammation (p-value = 0.58), and gingival bleeding (p-value = 0.65) levels were similar for both PSP and MTB groups.
The LS Mean(SE) percent reduction from Baseline in plaque levels at Week 6 was 28.66% (1.37) for PSP, and 0.87% (1.36) for MTB, p-value <.0001. For gingival inflammation, percent reduction values at Week 6 were 29.99% (1.68) for PSP, and -1.84% (1.67) for MTB, p-value <.0001. For gingival bleeding, the Week 6 percent reduction outcomes were 74.08% (2.64) for PSP, and 24.72% (2.61) for MTB, p-value <.0001.
Conclusions: In a population of subjects with moderate gingivitis, use of the PSP power toothbrush reduced levels of plaque, inflammation, and gingival bleeding statistically significantly more than a manual toothbrush. Both products were safe for use.