PLAQUE REMOVAL EFFICACY OF A NEWLY DEVELOPED POWERED TOOTHBRUSH IN THE PRIMARY DENTITION OF PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN

A cross-over, single-blind clinical study was performed to compare a p owered and a manual toothbrush for their ability to remove plaque from the teeth of pre-school children. Seventy-three randomly selected 4- to 6-year-old children from two kindergarten classes in Erfurt, German y participated in the study. A new powered children's toothbrush (Rowe nta) and a currently marketed manual childrens toothbrush (Elmex) were used for an assessment period of two weeks each. Then the groups were crossed over to use the alternate toothbrush for another two weeks. W hole mouth, gingival margin and interproximal plaque area levels were determined using the Rustogi et al. plaque index. Statistical analysis of the data showed significantly effective (p < 0.05) plaque removal with both toothbrushes, immediately after toothbrushing and at one and two weeks, compared to the respective baseline scores. The statistica l analysis also demonstrated that the powered toothbrush was significa ntly (p < 0.05) better on percent plaque reduction on all tooth areas compared to the manual toothbrush, except at two weeks with the interp roximal assessment.