BATTERY OPERATED AND MANUAL TOOTH BRUSH

COMPARISON FOR DENTAL PLAQUE REMOVAL

Abstract

Background: Dental plaque may cause oral problems that may include dental
caries, periodontal problems, and halitosis. Motivation, awareness and manual dexterity have
much effect on tooth brushing. The advantages related with manual and battery operated tooth
brushing have been reported different in the literature. Objective: To compare the manual and
battery operated tooth brush for plaque removal efficiency. Study Design: Randomized control
trial. Setting: The Dental OPD of Department of Community Dentistry, Liaquat University of
Medical and Health Sciences, Jamshoro. Period: November 2011 to June 2013. Methods: Total
100 patients of both genders, aged ≥18 years were included. Patients were equally divided into
manual and battery operated brush groups. The presence of plaque was checked and plaque
index was recorded. Wilcoxon sign pair test was applied to compare pre and post plaque
score for manual and battery operated tooth brush. Independent sample t test was applied to
compare percent reduction of plaque score between groups. The significance level of P-value
was up to 0.05. Results: In manual brush group, 27 were male and 23 were female. Mean
age was 25.65±5.87 years. In battery operated brush group, 32 were male, 18 were female.
Mean age was 29.92±10.37 years. Before manual brushing mean plaque score was 1.88±0.65
while after brushing it was reduced to 1.11±0.43. Percent reduction was 40.96%, p=0.0005.
Mean plaque score was 1.35±0.37 and 0.69±0.29 before and after brushing respectively in
battery operated brushing. Percent reduction was 48.9%, p=0.0005. Battery operated brushing
was significantly more effective than manual (p=0.023). Conclusion: Battery operated tooth
brush was significantly more effective than manual toothbrush. It removes significantly more
supragingival plaque than manual tooth brush.