Toothbrush Wear in Relation to Tooth Brushing Effectiveness.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate to what extent the degree of toothbrush wear of 3-month-old manual toothbrushes influence plaque scores.

MATERIAL & METHODS: During a recently published study with a follow-up of one year all participants performed a similar basic home-based oral hygiene regimen. Hence, they were instructed to brush for two minutes twice daily according to the Bass method technique and using a standard dentifrice containing sodium fluoride. Toothbrushes were turned in every 3-month and the degree of wear was scored. The mean plaque score data were additionally analyzed and correlated to wear scores of the toothbrushes.

RESULTS: For analysis, for each of 172 individual participants, a set of three identical, 3-month-old used toothbrushes were available. Toothbrush wear varied widely between participants. However, per patient, the 3-month wear status of the 3 evaluated toothbrushes was strongly correlated (rho=0.8, p<0.0001). Participants who returned toothbrushes with extreme wear had significantly higher plaque scores than those who returned toothbrushes with no visible or light wear (p=0.01).

CONCLUSION: Toothbrush wear per individual patient is fairly consistent. Toothbrushes with extreme wear were less effective than those with no or light wear. Therefore, bristle splaying appears to be a more appropriate measure of brush replacement time then the commonly used toothbrush age. Splaying of the outer tufts beyond the base of the toothbrush is a condition that indicates it is time to change the brush. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.