Cleaning Efficacy of Toothpastes With Varying Abrasiveness-An In Vitro Investigation on Bovine Dentin.

Objective: To determine how differences in abrasiveness (RDA) influence cleaning capabilities of toothpastes.

Methods: For this in vitro trial, 60 bovine dentin samples were prepared and divided into six groups (G1-G6; n = 10). Groups G1-G5 were arranged in order from low to high toothpaste abrasiveness (G1: RDA: 12, G2: RDA: 29, G3: RDA: 43, G4: RDA: 71, and G5: RDA: 143). Samples in group G6 were used as a negative control and later brushed with pure artificial saliva. In preparation for testing, the dentin samples were stained with a black tea mixture. The respective toothpastes were mixed with artificial saliva in a 1:2 ratio to produce a toothpaste slurry. The samples were brushed for a total of 25 min (with measurement intervals at 2-, 5-, 10-, and 25-min) using a manual toothbrush in an automated brushing machine. The cleaning efficacy of the toothpastes was determined using photographs connected to a planimeter computer program and statistically evaluated.

Results: Analysis of the median cleaning efficacy values showed that the toothpastes with a higher abrasiveness achieved a greater cleaning effect at each time point. All toothpastes showed a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in their cleaning efficacy (taking into account the median, interquartile range (IQR), minimum and maximum values) after 25 min of brushing.

Conclusions: With increasing RDA value, the cleaning efficiency of the toothpastes tested rises. However, a doubling of the RDA value does not necessarily elicit a twofold increase in cleaning effect.