Effect of toothbrush grip on plaque removal during manual toothbrushing in children

Abstract

Toothbrushing is fundamental to oral hygiene. Children differ in manual dexterity and their grip on toothbrushes. We videotaped toothbrushing sessions and observed the grip type, duration of brushing, and brushing technique used among 100 children aged 8-12 years. We then investigated the association between grip type and plaque removal, using plaque scores obtained at various time points. We further examined the effect on plaque scores of standardizing both brushing technique and duration among the same participants. The most common grip was the distal oblique, followed by the oblique; the spoon and precision grips were rare, and no child used a power grip. Mean brushing duration for most children was 1.43 ± 0.85 min, and the most common brushing technique was horizontal scrubbing. We conclude that grip preference is inherent and that the distal oblique grip was better than the oblique grip in removing plaque. (J Oral Sci 54, [183][184][185][186][187][188][189][190] 2012)

To evaluate the efficacy of various types of toothbrush grips used to remove dental plaque by children in age group 3-12 years.

“…In this study, the most common grip used was distal oblique which was found to be most efficient in plaque removal. This finding is similar to the study which was conducted by Beals et al [3], Mentes and Atukeren [4] and Sharma et al [5]. Macgregor and Rugg-Gunn, [6] found that overall brushing time was 1.3 min in 85 uninstructed children aged 11-13 years.…”

Influence of Tooth Brush Grips and Brushing Techniques on Plaque Removal Efficacy

“…The findings of our study was contradictory to those of Sharma et al, [8] who reported that the modified Stillman's technique was efficacious with respect to plaque removal when tested in 100 school-age children. The results reported by Poyato-Ferrera et al [4] concur with those of the current study, in that the modified Bass technique was also an efficacious method for removing plaque.…”

“…The power grip and the distal oblique grip use the palm of the hand, while the remaining three grips rely on the fingers to grip the toothbrush. While a few studies have explored associations between the ways in which children grip their toothbrushes and their dexterity [8], less attention has been paid to associations between grip type and the effectiveness of plaque removal in adults.…”

Criteria for the choice of manual pediatric toothbrush

“…Следовательно, важную роль в поддержании здоровья ПР играют регулярные мероприятия личной и професси-ональной гигиены [2,7,32,35,54,62,79].…”

“…При нерегулярном и не-качественном уходе микроорганизмы ПР формируют биопленку, в которой бактериальные популяции прочно связаны друг с другом и с поверхностью тканей ПР. Про-дукты жизнедеятельности бактерий приводят к измене-нию среды ПР, что создает предпосылки для размноже-ния патогенной микрофлоры, оказывающей негативное влияние на зубы и ткани пародонта [4,21,24,68].Следовательно, важную роль в поддержании здоровья ПР играют регулярные мероприятия личной и професси-ональной гигиены [2,7,32,35,54,62,79].Целью чистки зубов является удаление биопленки и уменьшение количества патогенных микроорганизмов [22,78,90]. Во время чистки зубов щеткой удаление зуб-ного налета достигается прежде всего благодаря прямому контакту между волокнами зубной щетки и поверхностя-ми зубов и мягких тканей [70].…”