2024 Volume 45 Issue 1 Pages 20-27
Although it is important to select appropriate toothbrushes for special needs patients, there is no objective functional index for such selection.
In this study, we investigated the effects of brushing force and toothbrush specifications on cleaning efficiency using a flat model for four kinds of toothbrush：three types with rounded bristles of different hardness, and one type with super-tapered bristles.
There was a positive correlation between brushing force and cleaning efficiency. It has been shown that controlling the brushing force is important to obtain an appropriate cleaning effect. Toothbrushes with super-tapered bristles and soft bristles had lower cleaning efficiency than toothbrushes with rounded bristles and hard bristles. This result was thought to be due to the fact that the tips of the bristles are thin and bend greatly when brushed, making it difficult to transmit force to the surface to be cleaned.
In this study, differences in cleaning efficiency were observed with different brushing force and different bristle specifications using a flat model. It is suggested that understanding and selecting the performance of the toothbrush could compensate for the diverse brushing skills of special needs patients and achieve efficient brushing.
