Clinical effectiveness of two different toothbrushes in the elderly.

Proper tooth brushing is the simplest way to maintain oral health. Still, it can cause considerable manipulative difficulties among parts of the population, like the elderly. The aim of this study was to evaluate a tool that could make tooth-brushing more effective and easier for this age group. Therefore, in a population of 34 elderly people aged 65 and over, we compared the plaque-removing ability of the Superbrush, a three-headed toothbrush, with the Elmex interX and the toothbrush normally used. A balanced cross-over design was chosen and the study was operator-blind. Two indices were used to measure the plaque-removing abilities of the toothbrushes, the OHI (Quigley-Hein plaque index) and the API (proximal plaque index). Professional tooth cleaning was performed to obtain a plaque-free condition at the beginning of the study as well as before switching to a new toothbrush. After one week of using each toothbrush, the OHI and API were determined to assess the oral hygiene status of each participant. The overall plaque removal was similar for the Superbrush, the Elmex interX and the patients' own toothbrushes. However, at the oral surfaces of the teeth, the Superbrush was significantly more effective than the other toothbrushes. No or only small differences were found for other surfaces (posterior and front teeth and facial surfaces).