Oral Hygiene by Utilization of Different Dental Brushes in Elderly

Purpose: Aim of this study was to investigate the oral hygiene behavior in elderly by utilization of different brands and types of tooth brushes over a 6-month examination period in a randomized, controlled clinical trial.

Materials & Methods: 85 elderly were selected and separated into 5 groups (Waterpik Sensonic SR-1000E (1), Oral-B 7500 DLX (2), Blend-a-med 35 (3) and Elmex interX (4, 5)). Group 1-4 used Meridol toothpaste, group 5 used Elmex sensitive toothpaste. The evaluation of oral hygiene was taken by reporting Papilla-Bleeding-Index (PBI) and Quigley-Hein-Index (QHI) at baseline, after 6 and 12 weeks as well as after six months. Furthermore the quality of life was documented by the OHIP-G 14. Statistics was done by SPSS 16.0; the level of significance was p< .05.

Results: The median of age was less than 75 years. Removable denture was found significantly higher than fixed denture. Full dentated participants were minor, edentulous elderly were excluded. Baseline parameters of PBI and QHI showed no significant gender-specific and age-specific differences. After 6 weeks already, significant increasements in both electrically brushing groups were found and continued over the whole examination period. The increasements of oral hygiene parameters in manual brushing groups over 6 months were not significant. The oscillating/rotating toothbrush (2) showed better results than the ultrasonic brush (1), the results of the manual brushes (3-5) were very similar to each other. The brand of dentifrice had no significant influence on the development of oral hygiene values.

Conclusion: The participants' low age median showed a reservation in high-aged elderly in this study. The significant increasements of oral hygiene indices by using electrical (oscillating/rotating and ultrasonic) brushes recommend their utilization to optimize quality of oral hygiene in elderly.