A 4-week randomized clinical trial evaluating plaque and gingivitis effects of a new oscillating-rotating electric toothbrush.

Background: Many patients with gingivitis use manual toothbrushes, despite evidence of considerably greater plaque and gingivitis reductions with electric toothbrushes. A new oscillating-rotating (OR) toothbrush features a streamlined design and quieter sound that manual toothbrush users may find appealing.

Methods: This parallel-group, 3-treatment, randomized, clinical study compared the new OR toothbrush, used in sensitive or daily clean mode, with a manual toothbrush for plaque (Rustogi Modified Navy plaque index) and gingivitis reduction (modified gingival index and number of bleeding sites) over 4 weeks among manual toothbrush users with gingivitis.

Results: All 3 groups experienced significant improvement in all gingivitis and plaque measures at weeks 1 and 4 (P ≤ .005). The OR toothbrush used in either mode had significantly greater efficacy vs the manual toothbrush for all gingivitis and plaque measures at both time points (P ≤ .016). Week 4 treatment difference for whole-mouth plaque reduction between the manual toothbrush and OR sensitive and OR daily clean toothbrush treatments was -0.05 (95% CI, -0.062 to -0.037) and -0.078 (95% CI, -0.091 to -0.066), respectively. Only 20% of participants in the manual group transitioned from gingivitis (≥ 10% bleeding sites) to healthy (< 10% bleeding sites) vs 46.7% in the OR sensitive group and 60% in the OR daily clean group (P = .005).

Conclusions: The new OR toothbrush was significantly more effective than a manual toothbrush at reducing plaque and gingivitis in manual toothbrush users with baseline gingivitis.

Practical implications: The OR toothbrush improves periodontal health outcomes for manual toothbrush users and was designed to transition them to electric technology. This clinical trial was registered at ISRCTN-The UK's Clinical Study Registry. The registration number is ISRCTN61582326.