It is important for special needs people to select appropriate toothbrushes. However, there is no objective functional index for toothbrush selection.
In this study, we focused on the functional influence of toothbrush size, and evaluated function among four kinds of toothbrush using a flat model. Three of them had super-tapered bristles with different head size, and the fourth had rounded bristles with a flat profile. We measured the surface cleaning ability, the critical stroke as the distance required to move the tip of the bristles, and the extent of increase of bristle in the direction perpendicular to the direction of toothbrushing.
According to our research, a large toothbrush could improve the surface cleaning performance under strong force and many brushing times, and bent the least. It is suggested that super tapered bristles with a large toothbrush offer higher cleaning performance than rounded bristles with a compact head for special needs patients who have low brushing skills. However, they should use a large one on condition they can apply stronger brushing force and brushing times than with the compact head toothbrush.
