Method: This was a randomized, parallel, examiner-blind, 4-week clinical trial. 131 adult subjects with evidence of dental plaque were randomly assigned to use either a oscillating-rotating power toothbrush (Oral-B Professional Care 1000 with Precision Clean brush head) or a new sonic toothbrush (Colgate Pro Clinical C200 with Triple Clean brush head). Both groups used standard fluoridated toothpaste (Blend-a-Med Classic). Tooth brushing was performed twice daily at-home (2 minutes each, using manufacturers’ instructions). Overnight plaque was measured at Baseline and Week-4 by Turesky modification of Quigley and Hein Index (TMQH). Statistical analyses were carried out using analysis of covariance.
Result: The average baseline whole mouth TMQH scores were 2.283 and 2.377 for oscillating-rotating and sonic brush groups, respectively (p=0.090). Groups were balanced for age, gender, brush type user (manual or electric), and race (p≥0.593). At Week-4 the oscillating-rotating power brush group showed a 16.7% reduction in whole mouth plaque and 14.0% reduction in interproximal plaque, both differing significantly (p<0.001) from baseline. The sonic group had a 3.2% reduction in whole mouth plaque and a 2.8% reduction in interproximal plaque, differing significantly (p=0.016) from baseline. Between-group comparisons showed that oscillating-rotating brush was significantly better (p<0.001) for plaque reduction in the whole mouth and interproximally by more than 5 times versus the new sonic brush after 4 weeks of use. Subsequent analysis showed that 96.8% of subjects in the oscillating-rotating group showed a reduction in plaque at Week 4 as compared to 63.6% of subjects in the sonic group (p<0.001).
Conclusion: The oscillating-rotating power toothbrush provided significant improvements in whole mouth and interproximal plaque as compared to the new sonic toothbrush.