Purpose: To compare the plaque removal efficacy of a control powered toothbrush (original Crest SpinBrush, flat bristle profile) to a prototype powered toothbrush (new Crest SpinBrush, rippled bristle pattern).
Materials and methods: This study was a randomized, controlled, examiner-blind, 4-period crossover design, which examined plaque removal following a single use. The 20 subjects repeated the single use in each of four periods, twice with each toothbrush. Plaque was scored before and after brushing using the Turesky Modification of the Quigley-Hein Index.
Results: Baseline plaque scores were 1.59 and 1.65 for the prototype powered toothbrush and control toothbrush treatment groups, respectively. With respect to all surfaces examined, the prototype powered toothbrush delivered an adjusted (via analysis of covariance) mean difference between baseline and post-brushing plaque scores of 0.54 while the control toothbrush delivered an adjusted mean difference of 0.48. The experimental toothbrush group, on average, had a 13.1% larger plaque removal score than the control toothbrush. These results were statistically significant (P= 0.031). Similar results were observed on buccal and lingual surfaces.