Method: This was a single-center, randomized, parallel, examiner-blind, 8-week, controlled clinical trial. 60 adult subjects with evidence of dental plaque and gingivitis (minimum of 15 bleeding on probing positive sites) were randomly assigned to either use a powered toothbrush/irrigator combination (Oral-B® Professional Care Oxyjet 1000 Center, Test) or a regular manual toothbrush (Oral-B® Indicator 35, Control). Subjects were stratified at baseline according to age, smoking status, gingivitis-, and plaque-index to balance and randomly assign the treatment groups. Subjects from both groups used standard fluoridated toothpaste (Blend-a-Med Classic). In both groups, tooth brushing was performed twice daily at home following manufacturer's instructions and no interdental cleaning aids had to be used. Silness & Löe Plaque Index (PI) and Löe & Silness Gingival Index (GI) were measured at Baseline and at Week-2, Week-4 and Week-8. Between-groups comparisons were performed using analysis of covariance with baseline as covariate.
Result: Subjects’ mean age was 23 years and 52% were female. Overall baseline means were 1.31 for PI, and 1.07 for GI. At every follow-up, both groups differed significantly (p<0.001) from baseline for both PI and GI. Between-groups comparisons showed significant (p≤0.011) differences favoring the Test group with PI reductions versus Control of 20% at Week-2, 21% at Week-4 and 40% at Week-8. Furthermore, the Test group demonstrated significantly (p<0.001) superior reductions in GI versus Control by 18% at Week-2, 17% at Week-4 and 24% at Week-8, respectively. Significant reductions for number of bleeding sites showed similar results. Both treatments were well tolerated.
Conclusion: The powered toothbrush/irrigator combination provided significant reductions in plaque and gingivitis at Weeks-2, 4 and 8 when compared to the use of a regular manual toothbrush.