Clinical and laboratory evaluation of powered electric toothbrushes: laboratory determination of relative interproximal cleaning efficiency of four powered toothbrushes.
The clinical brushing data from the paper entitled, Clinical and Laboratory Evaluation of Powered Electric Toothbrushes: In Vivo Determination of Average Force for Use of Manual and Powered Toothbrushes, by Boyd et al. in this Special Issue, were incorporated into a laboratory cleaning model. Utilizing a standardized brushing machine and a methyl methacrylate substrate, four powered brushing instruments were tested for cleaning efficiency: Rota-dent. Braun Oral-B. Interplak and Sonicare, and a manual toothbrush (Oral-B P40). The Sonicare powered brushing instrument was tested at the manufacturer's recommended brushing force of 0.5 N as well as a calculated force of 1.0 N. The results showed that the Rota-dent was more efficient (p < 0.01-0.001) in removing stain from both flat and interproximal surfaces than any of the other tested brushes. These results, together with those reported by McLey, et al. in Clinical and laboratory Evaluation of Powered Electric Toothbrushes: Laboratory Determination of Relative Abrasion of Three Powered Toothbrushes in this Special Issue, demonstrate that the rotary action Rota-dent instrument has the most efficient combination of low abrasion and high cleaning efficiency of the four powered brushes and the manual brush when all instruments were tested using clinically documented pressures.