Efficacy of an automatic electric toothbrush with nylon bristles in dental plaque removal: a cross-over randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this single-use, five-treatment, five-period, cross-over randomized controlled trial (RCT) was to compare the efficacy in dental plaque removal of a new Y-shaped automatic electric toothbrush (Y-brush) compared to a U-shaped automatic electric toothbrush (U-brush), a manual toothbrushing procedure (for 45 and 120 s), and no brushing (negative control). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eligible participants were volunteer students randomized to the treatments in the five periods of the study. The primary outcome measure was the reduction in full-mouth plaque score (FMPS) after brushing while the secondary outcome variable was a visual analogic scale (VAS) on subjective clean mouth sensation. Mixed models were performed for difference in FMPS and VAS. RESULTS: After brushing procedures, manual toothbrushing (120 s) showed a statistically significant reduction in FMPS than Y-brush (difference 36.9; 95%CI 29.6 to 44.1, p < 0.0001), U-brush (difference 42.3; 95%CI 35.1 to 49.6, p < 0.0001), manual brushing (45 s) (difference 13.8; 95%CI 6.5 to 21.1, p < 0.0001), and No brushing (difference 46.6; 95%CI 39.3 to 53.9, p < 0.0001). Y-brush was significantly more effective than No brushing (difference 9.8; 95%CI 2.5 to 17.0, p = 0.0030), while there was no significant difference compared to U- brush. Similar results were obtained for the differences in the Clean Mouth VAS. CONCLUSIONS: Y-brush was significantly more effective than no brushing (negative control) in removing dental plaque. When compared to manual toothbrushing for both 45 and 120 s, however, Y-brush was less effective in dental plaque removal. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Modified design of automatic toothbrushing devices could improve plaque reduction, especially in patients with intellectual disabilities or motor difficulties.

Predicting the mandibular growth spurt.

OBJECTIVES: To develop a prediction model that combined information derived from chronological age, sex, and the cervical vertebral maturation (CVM) method to predict the pubertal spurt in mandibular growth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 50 subjects (29 females, 21 males) were selected from the American Association of Orthodontists Foundation Craniofacial Growth Legacy Collection, the University of Michigan Growth Study, and the Denver Child Growth study. A total of 456 lateral cephalograms were analyzed, and a multilevel logistic model was applied. The outcome variable was the presence or absence of the mandibular pubertal growth peak. The predictive variables were chronological age up to the third order, sex, presence or absence of CS 3 interactions between age and sex, age and CS 3, sex and CS 3. RESULTS: The mean age ± standard deviation (SD) at the first cephalogram was 8.2 ± 0.5 years, whereas the mean age at the last cephalogram was 16.5 ± 1.1 years. The mean interval ± SD between two consecutive cephalograms was 1.0 ± 0.1 years. The mean age ± SD at the lateral cephalogram obtained immediately before the mandibular pubertal growth peak was 12.1 ± 1.1 years for females and 13.2 ± 0.8 years for males. The greatest increase in mandibular length occurred after CS 3 in 78% of the subjects. The presence of CS 3, age, second-order age, sex, and the interaction between age and sex were all statistically significant predictors of the mandibular pubertal growth spurt. CONCLUSIONS: CS 3, chronological age, and sex can be used jointly to predict the pubertal peak in mandibular growth.