CLINICAL AND LABORATORY EVALUATION OF POWERED ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSHES -LABORATORY DETERMINATION OF RELATIVE ABRASION OF 3 POWERED TOOTHBRUSHES

Previously established data on average forces applied to various brush ing instruments during in vivo toothbrushing were incorporated into a laboratory abrasion model. The apparatus included a specially construc ted and standardized brushing machine and utilized an acrylic resin su bstrate. Three powered brushing instruments (Rota-dent(R), Interplak(R ) and Braun Oral-B(R) Plaque Remover) and a manual toothbrush (oral-B( R) P40), were compared in this model. The system demonstrated excellen t precision and could distinguish between brushing instruments with as little as 10% difference in abrasivity. It was found that brushing ab rasivity increased in the order of Rota-dent < Braun < Interplak.