Comparative Efficacy of Two Powered Brushes in Interproximal Areas

The critical area of concern for daily plaque control in the periodontal patient is interproximally, at the tooth/gingival interface. The literature supports the fact that good supragingival plaque control can positively influence the subgingival flora, and significantly aid in suppressing the inflammatory response Objective: To evaluate, in this pilot study, the comparative efficacy of the Ultreo powered sonic brush and the Rota-dent powered rotary action brush in interproximal areas, and at the gingival margins. Methods: Clinical data was collected from the eighteen subjects who completed the trial. The subjects were recare patients in a general dental practice, and included 4 men, and 12 women. The cohorts were selected based on a history of inadequate oral hygiene. Mean study age was 54.3 yrs. Data was collected using a modified Navy Plaque Index (NPI) for interproximal and gingival margin plaque, at baseline, six and twelve weeks. The plaque was assessed in all tooth areas on a presence or absence basis The patients were assigned brushes randomly, changed brushes at six weeks, and were scored with disclosing solution. They were then given, and trained in the alternate brush. Assessment at each visit was carried out randomly, by three different hygienists who did not know which brush was being used in this blind design. Results: The Rotadent reduced the NPI by 41.2% after six weeks of use, while the Ultreo reduced the NPI by 19.3% after the same time period. The mean standard deviation of the plaque scores was 4.84. Conclusions: In this trial, the rotary action powered brush(Rotadent) was more effective in reducing interproximal and gingival margin plaque than the rapidly oscillating powered brush (Ultreo).