| Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools. |
© 2002 SAGE Publications Power Toothbrushes: Hype or Science?Presented at a Symposium entitled "Powered Toothbrushes: Hype or Science?", sponsored by the IADR Oral Health Research Group and held during the 78th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, April 5-8, 2000, Washington, DC
University of Kansas - Lawrence, West Campus, 2099 Constant Ave., Lawrence, KS 66047; hefferen{at}ukans.edu
Key Words: Toothbrush • manual toothbrush • power toothbrush The Workshop title suggests that reports of power toothbrush studies may include both hyperbole and science. Today we have two hours to review the science describing power toothbrushes and chart a future for scientific exchange, collaborative studies, and recommendations for future communication, use, and research relevant to power toothbrushes and their relationships to manual toothbrushes and dentifrices in oral hygiene programs.
The operative variables in defining toothbrush functionality include brush head size, bristle length and diameter, brush head motion, and brush head speed (Table
Powered toothbrush manufacturers have suggested that users brush one or two teeth at a time. This recommendation comes in part from the smaller brush head size that conveniently cleans one tooth. This brushing action also reduces the tooth wear associated with cross-brushing with a manual toothbrush. Powered toothbrushes used as directed will be used for longer periods with lighter brush head loads. Laboratory and clinical studies of toothbrushes can benefit from the use of available references that will facilitate comparison of data between studies. The American Dental Association has made available and encouraged the use of a soft bristle, flat profile manual toothbrush as a reference brush. The use of this brush in both laboratory and clinical studies will provide a point of reference. A special lot of calcium pyrophosphate (Hefferren, 1999) is available as a reference for both abrasivity (wear) (Hefferren, 1976; International Standard, 1995) and cleaning power (Stookey et al., 1982). While calcium pyrophosphate reference has been and continues to be used primarily in laboratory studies, it has been used in collaborative clinical studies to provide a reference for clinical cleaning (American Dental Association, 1984). The use of the soft manual toothbrush and calcium pyrophosphate as references in power toothbrush studies provides access to substantial laboratory and clinical multi-investigator, multi-site collaborative studies (Hefferren, 1976; Stookey et al., 1982; American Dental Association, 1984; Hefferren et al., 1984). The American Dental Association has published Clinical Study Guidelines in 1996 and 1998 (Clinical Protocol Guidelines, 1996; Toothbrushes Acceptance Program Guidelines, 1998) for both manual and power toothbrushes. These Guidelines, among other things, define safety and efficacy, if brush claims are limited to cleanliness. Also included are guidelines for brush use superiority with implied health claims. The Guidelines include a general recommendation to avoid disparagement of other toothbrushes. The functionality of toothbrushes shares with dentifrices the general overall aims of cleaning and polishing the tooth with minimal surface change per se. The bristles of the toothbrush have the added assignment of gaining access to the sheltered oral sites, such as the anterior and posterior proximal spaces. Assessment of bristle access is one measure of the functionality of a toothbrush (Ersen et al., 2001).
This Workshop has been supported in part by the John O. Butler Co., Braun Oral-B, Interplak by Conair, Phillips Jordan, Sonex International Corp., and Teledyne WaterPik.
Presented at a Symposium entitled "Powered Toothbrushes: Hype or Science?", sponsored by the IADR Oral Health Research Group and held during the 78th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, April 5-8, 2000, Washington, DC
Advances in Dental Research, Vol. 16, No. 1,
16 (2002)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
|
 |
|
Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
TOP
References