Toothbrushes 1

Research Paper: Toothbrushes

Madyson Bolls

Composition I - C. Pearce

University of Arkansas at Little Rock

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Toothbrushes have been around for nearly as long as the human race. Over the

generations, the design of the toothbrush has changed in a number of ways. From the bristles to

the handle itself, as well as design and color options, the common toothbrush has been given a

new look, which makes it more appealing to the consumer. In addition to this, recent innovations

have led to the creation of the electric toothbrush. This gives way to the question, which is better,

the new electric toothbrush or the old fashioned manual toothbrush? The electric toothbrush has

been shown to have reduced gingivitis percentage along with reduced plaque index scores in

many different studies of adults and children, giving evidence to suggest that using an electric

toothbrush is better to use than a manual toothbrush.

Many studies have been conducted to conclude which toothbrush is better for dental

hygiene. To determine which toothbrush is the best for the human mouth, the experiments

focused on how well the toothbrush reduced the amount of plaque in each participant's mouth.

One study out of Japan used participants from eleven different dental facilities to show the

difference of the percentage of the Plaque Index Score (PIS) when using an electric toothbrush

compared to a manual toothbrush. The results of the study showed that the percentage of PIS was

decreased when using an electric versus a manual toothbrush (Bahammam 2021). Another study

conducted for a five week period focused on plaque and gingivitis. The study showed, “At Week

5, the number of bleeding sites was reduced from baseline by 11.15 (52.2%) for the O-R brush

and 5.04 (23.6%) for the manual brush (Renzo Alberto Ccahuana 2019).” These results show a

significant amount of difference between the two brushes, enough for one to conclude that using

an electric toothbrush could be more beneficial than a manual toothbrush.

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Children often struggle with brushing their teeth. Knowing which toothbrush is better can

help put parents minds’ at ease concerning the health of their children's teeth and gums. A study

published in the International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry gives results as to what happens to

the PIS level when using an electric toothbrush. The participants of the study were split into two

groups, three to six and seven to nine. The younger children were instructed to allow their

parents to brush their teeth while the older children brushed their own teeth. A plaque score was

taken at the beginning of the experiment and at the end, the results of the study were recorded

and show the following information. “For the primary dentition in children 3-6 years, the electric

brush reduced 32.3% more plaque than the manual brush (P = .005). For the mixed dentition in

children 7-9 years, the electric brush reduced 51.9% more plaque than the manual brush (P <

.001)(Davidovich 2021).” These results would persuade a parent to choose an electric toothbrush

over a manual toothbrush.

Another clinical study has been conducted to show the effectiveness of each type of

toothbrush on different sections of the mouth instead of the whole mouth at once. The previous

studies have looked at the effectiveness of an electric toothbrush on the mouth as a whole, but

this study looks at three different areas. The first molar, first premolar, and central incisors were

looked at in 30 participants for this particular study (Ikawa 2021). The participants plaque score

was looked at for phase I of the study using one toothbrush and again at phase II using a different

toothbrush. The results show, “Electric ionic toothbrushes demonstrated a significantly higher

plaque removal rate than manual toothbrushes in the premolar and molar areas (Ikawa 2021).”

This study concluded that in two out of three sections of the mouth the amount of plaque was

significantly reduced leading to healthier dental practices.

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To conclude, the results of these studies have shown a significant difference in the

percentage change of the PIS of all the participants to help show that using an electric toothbrush

can aid in having better dental hygiene practices. Though there have been studies where the

difference can not be enough for it to be significant enough to aid in this conclusion, many

studies do prove that using an electric toothbrush will decrease plaque and aid in overall healthy

dental practices. With these studies in mind one could come to the conclusion that using an

electric toothbrush rather than a manual toothbrush would be beneficial in dental hygiene by

reducing PIS.
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Reference Page

Bahammam, S., Chia-Yu, C., Ishida, Y., Hayashi, A., Ikeda, Y., Ishii, H., . . . Nagai, S. (2021).

Electric and manual oral hygiene routines affect plaque index score differently.

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24), 13123.

doi:https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182413123

Davidovich, E., Ccahuana-Vasquez, R., Timm, H., Grender, J., & Zini, A. (2021). Randomized

clinical study of plaque removal efficacy of an electric toothbrush in primary and mixed

dentition. International Journal of Pediatric Dentistry, 31(5), 657-663.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/ipd.12753

Ikawa, T., Mizutani, K., Sudo, T., Kano, C., Ikeda, Y., Akizuki, T., . . . Iwata, T. (2021). Clinical

comparison of an electric-powered ionic toothbrush and a manual toothbrush in plaque

reduction: A randomized clinical trial. International Journal of Dental Hygiene, 19(1),

93-98. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/idh.12475

Renzo Alberto Ccahuana‐Vasquez, Adam, R., Conde, E., Grender, J. M., Cunningham, P., C, R.

G., & Qaqish, J. (2019). A 5 week randomized clinical evaluation of a novel electric

toothbrush head with regular and tapered bristles versus a manual toothbrush for

reduction of gingivitis and plaque. International Journal of Dental Hygiene, 17(2),

153-160. doi:https://doi.org/10.1111/idh.12372
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