Halitosis Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Halitosis, including details on bad breath, oral hygiene, oral bacteria, treatment.

Sonic-powered toothbrushes and reversal of experimental gingivitis.

Versteeg PA, Timmerman MF, Rosema NA, Warren PR, Van der Velden U, Van der Weijden GA

Department of Periodontology, Academic Centre for Dentistry ACTA, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. p.versteeg@acta.nl

OBJECTIVE: To compare two sonic toothbrushes in relation to the reversal of experimental gingivitis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Subjects refrained from brushing mandibular teeth for 21 days. During a 4-week treatment phase, the right or left side of the mouth was brushed with either the Sonic Complete (SC) or Sonicare Elite (SE) toothbrush as randomly allocated. Plaque and gingivitis were assessed on day 0, after 21 days of no oral hygiene and after 1, 2 and 4 weeks of brushing twice daily. RESULTS: Thirty-four subjects provided evaluable data. The experimentally induced gingivitis (EIG) resulted in higher bleeding and plaque scores compared with day 0. The mean plaque scores at day 21 changed from 3.09 to 1.30 for the SC, and from 3.02 to 1.21 for the SE. At the end of the treatment period, there was no significant difference between the two brushes. The mean bleeding scores changed from 1.87 (day 21) to 0.97 for the SC, and from 1.83 to 0.92 for the SE. For the assessments at 1, 2 and 4 weeks post-EIG, both brushes showed a significant decrease in bleeding scores. There were no statistically significant differences between brushes.

Published 4 November 2005 in J Clin Periodontol, 32(12): 1236-41.
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