The effect of different types of electric toothbrush bristles on oral hygiene

Purpose of this study is to know the most effective bristle of electric tooth brush for removal of dental plaque. Nine different types of bristle were prepared, combined with two factors. The first factor was length of bristle which was 8, 10, and 12mm respectively. The other factor was diameter of bristle which was 0.155, 0.202, and 0.234mm. The material of bristle was nylon. The bristle was straight cut, three row and the same tufted spacing.Nine patients who had a normal dentition were instructed how to use the electric tooth brush, and were cleaned the teeth every one week before the experimental day, and stopped oral hygiene 24 hours before the day. The period of this study was for four weeks. Dental plaque which was removed from the six teeth (6/41|14/6) was calculated with specially prepared measure.An average removal of dental plaque was 54.2%±12.7. Among the nine different bristles, statistically significant difference (5%) could not be found. However, it was shown that harder and longer bristle was more effective for removal of dental plaque.During the period of experiment, hurted gingiva by electric tooth brush was not observed.