Finger Brush Essay

Efficacy and convenience of finger toothbrush and conventional toothbrush for plaque removal in children under supervised conditions: A comparative study

Running title: Plaque removal efficacy and convenience of finger and conventional toothbrushes under supervised conditions.

Summary

Background: Tooth brushing is fundamental to oral hygiene & children are generally not capable of obtaining a sufficient oral hygiene level.

Aim: To evaluate the plaque removal efficacy & to assess the relative convenience of using finger toothbrush and conventional toothbrush by the parents.

Design: A total of 80 children aged 3-6 years, were selected. Each child had three visits during which brushes were distributed to children, their plaque scores were recorded.

In the study the investigator was blinded. The reliability of the questionnaire was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha method and required modifications were made in the questionnaire. In the beginning of main study, an assistant was deputed to distribute the brushes to the parents of all the subjects and parents were instructed to do the brushing in the child’s mouth with split mouth technique. Each child had 3 dental visits. Selected subjects were instructed to abstain from all oral hygiene procedures for 48 hours and report to the investigator.

In the first visit baseline plaque score was recorded and parents were demonstrated brushing technique. Subject’s teeth were dried with gauze without rubbing the tooth surface and the investigator evaluated the amount of dental plaque with the help of exploratory probe, by means of Visible Plaque Index (BF2).83,84 Figure 1: Recording of Visible Plaque Index by Explorer No. 5 Shepard’s