Clinical Evaluation of a Novel Anchorless Toothbrush

Toothbrushes applying different bristle tufting techniques are attracting great attention. An anchorless toothbrush having a thinner head than that of a conventional toothbrush with an anchor holding bristles on the brush head, may have molars brushing efficacy superior to that of the conventional. We compare the effectiveness in plaque removal and feeling in the use of two anchorless toothbrushes that varied in toothbrush head thickness and bristles length. Subjeccts in this randomized crossover study were 52 students in the second-year of dental hygienist course of Toho Dental College. Plaque on Ramfjord teeth (16, 21, 24, 36, 41, and 44) and molars (16, 17, 26, 27, 36, 37, 46, and 47) was scored using a plaque control record with a red disclosing solution before and after single-use toothbrushing with a test toothbrush (S) or a control toothbrush (M) having a thicker head and longer bristles. After examination, subjects filled out a questionnaire about the feeling of ease in use. The mean plaque reduction between two groups was analyzed using the paired t-test. Average plaque removal efficacy of toothbrush (S) was 53.3±20.2% on Ramfjord teeth and analysis showed significantly higher efficacy compared to the mean score of toothbrush (M) (39.1±29.5%, p