Comparison of Manual and Electric Toothbrush in Dental Plaque Removal: A Clinical Trial

Background: Mechanical oral hygiene procedures are the most effective means of plaque removal and toothbrush is the most commonly used tool for mechanical plaque removal worldwide. There is an array of available manual and electric toothbrushes in the market. Thus, choosing the best one for dental plaque removal can be of great help for patients. Objectives: This study aimed at compare the efficacy of dental plaque removal using a manual and an electric toothbrush. Materials and Methods: This experimental, single-blinded sequential clinical trial was conducted on ۱۲ patients (ten females and two males) who aged ۲۱ to ۳۰ years old. The tested manual toothbrush was ۳۵-mm soft Oral-B Pulsar and the electric one was Oral-B Professional Care ۸۵۰۰ DLX chargeable D۱۸. Patients’ dental plaque score was set as zero through scaling, root planning, and polishing. Subjects were avoided tooth cleaning for three days and on day four, plaque accumulation was assessed using Tureskey's modification of Quigley and Hein plaque index. Results: The mean of plaque index was ۲.۱۳ ± ۰.۸۳ and ۲.۱۱ ± ۱.۰۱ in the manual and electric toothbrush groups, respectively. No significant difference was detected between the study toothbrushes in terms of plaque removal (P = ۰.۳۷۴); however, with the manual tooth brushing, plaque removal was significantly greater in the buccal than in lingual surface and in the maxilla than in the mandible (P = ۰.۰۳ and P = ۰.۰۱۵, respectively). Conclusions: Similar to previous studies, this study could not show the superiority of electric toothbrush over manual in plaque removal. After ۷۲ hours, the mean of plaque index was greater in buccal than in lingual surface, which may be attributed to the natural cleansing action of the tongue.