Plaque removal efficacy of a novel manual toothbrush with MicroPulse bristles and an advanced split-head design.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the plaque removing efficacy and safety of a novel manual toothbrush (Oral-B Pulsar-PUL) compared to leading manual and battery toothbrushes.

METHODOLOGY: Three clinical studies were conducted, each having a randomized, examiner-blind, crossover design. Study 1 compared PUL to a newly marketed manual toothbrush, Colgate 360 degrees (COL), Study 2 compared PUL to the Oral-B Advantage Plus (AP) and Oral-B CrossAction (CA) manual toothbrushes, and Study 3 compared PUL to two battery toothbrushes, Oral-B CrossAction Power (CAP) and Crest SpinBrush Pro (SBP). Before each brushing visit, subjects refrained from all oral hygiene procedures for 23-25 hours, received an oral tissue examination, and pre-brushing plaque was scored based on the Rustogi et. al, odified Navy Plaque Index. After subjects brushed with the assigned toothbrush in their usual manner for one minute, oral tissues were then re-examined and post-brushing plaque scores recorded. Subjects with pre-brushing whole mouth mean plaque scores > or = 0.6 continued in the study after the first visit. Following a brief washout period between additional visits, the above procedures were repeated in the remaining treatment periods. The examiners who made all clinical measurements were blinded to the treatment sequence.

RESULTS: All toothbrushes significantly (p = 0.0001) reduced plaque levels from all areas after a single brushing. Study 1 showed a significant difference for PUL in all areas, whole mouth, margin, and approximal (p < 0.05) compared to COL. In Study 2, PUL removed significantly more whole mouth (p < 0.01) and approximal plaque (p < 0.005) than AP as scored by two examiners, but did not show a significant advantage versus CA. In Study 3, PUL removed significantly more plaque than CAP and SBP for whole mouth (both p = 0.0001), marginal (both p = 0.0001), and approximal (p < 0.005, p = 0.0001, respectively) areas. All toothbrushes were found to be safe with no evidence of hard or soft tissue trauma.

CONCLUSION: The new Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush removed significantly more plaque than Colgate 360 and Oral-B Advantage Plus. Additionally, Pulsar removed significantly more plaque than two battery brushes, Oral-B CrossAction Power and Crest SpinBrush Pro.