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Evidence summaries

Manual Versus Powered Toothbrushing for Oral Health

Powered toothbrushes with a rotation oscillation action are more effective than manual toothbrushing in reducing plaque and gingivitis. Level of evidence: "A"

A Cochrane review (abstract , review [Abstract]) included 51 studies with a total of 4624 participants. Brushes with a rotation oscillation action removed plaque and reduced gingivitis more effectively than manual brushes in the short term and reduced gingivitis scores in studies over 3 months. For plaque at 1 to 3 months the SMD was -0.50 (95% CI -0.70 to -0.31), for gingivitis SMD -0.43 (95% CI -0.60 to -0.25) representing an 11% difference on the Quigley Hein plaque index and a 6% reduction on the Löe and Silness gingival index. At over 3 months the SMD for plaque was -0.47 (95% CI -0.82 to 0.11) and for gingivitis was -0.21 (-0.31 to -0.12). There was heterogeneity between the trials for the short-term follow up. Sensitivity analyses revealed the results to be robust when selecting trials of high quality. There was no evidence of any publication bias.

    References

    • Yaacob M, Worthington HV, Deacon SA et al. Powered versus manual toothbrushing for oral health. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2014;(6):CD002281. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords