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Clinical evaluation of the plaque-removing ability of four different toothbrushes in visually impaired children.

PURPOSE
To evaluate the efficacy of plaque removal of four different toothbrushes in visually disabled children. Three manual toothbrushes with different bristle designs (Oral-B CrossAction 40-regular, Oral-B ShinyClean 40-soft, Oral-B Advantage 40-soft) were compared with an electric toothbrush with an oscillating rotating head (Colgate Motion).


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Forty visually impaired children in a professional education center participated in the study and were divided into 4 groups of 10 participants each. To obtain a plaque-free condition at baseline, professional toothcleaning was performed on each participant. After instructions on how to use the toothbrushes, each group started the experiment using a differently designed toothbrush. After 1 week of application, the Quigley Hein plaque index (QHI) was used to assess the oral hygiene status of each participant. Student's t-test was chosen for comparing brushes. P < 0.01 was considered as the significance level. Results were presented as mean ± standard deviation.


RESULTS
The QHI values obtained with the electric Colgate Motion brush were the lowest (0.088 ± 0.051) and Advantage (0.801 ± 0.132) the highest. Although the QHI values with the manual Oral-B CrossAction (0.439 ± 0.094) were lower than those with the Oral-B shiny clean (0.503 ± 0.098), there was no statistical difference between the two.


CONCLUSION
The electric toothbrushes are still the most effective in the visually disabled group. However, because of cheaper cost, easier availability and use, the Oral-B CrossAction toothbrush with criss-cross bristles could be a suitable alternative.