Efficacy of using 3D motion tracking toothbrush in dental plaque control

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of a smart mirror toothbrush instruction (TBI) system and a smartphone-based remote toothbrushing monitoring system to conventional TBI in plaque control.

The smart mirror system was tested by analyzing the reductions of the modified Quigley-Hein plaque index in two experiments, either in 60 adults or in 42 children. These volunteers were assigned randomly into two groups, in which the volunteers received TBI using smart mirror system or traditional TBI. The changes in the plaque indexes were recorded at baseline, immediately after TBI, 1 week later, 1 month later, and 10 months (adults only) later.

The smartphone system was evaluated at home in 80 days in 92 children. The Patient Hygiene Performance Simplified Index (PHPsI) and a survey were completed by all of the children regarding their toothbrushing pattern at baseline and at the 80-days. Children who spent less than two minutes on toothbrushing or brushed their teeth less than two times a day were assigned into group one, the rest were assigned into group two. Changes in mean PHPsI score for all participants between baseline and 80 days were analyzed, and changes of plaque indices were compared between different sites of the dentition.

The patterns of decrease in the modified Quigley- Hein plaque indexes were similar in the two groups in both adults and children when using the smart mirror system. Reductions of the plaque indexes of both groups in each test time period were observed for both adults (P<0.0001) and children (P<0.0001), and the effects of TBI did not differ between the two groups in both adults (P=0.9035) and children (P=0.424). Non- inferiority was validated in a limited time after TBI for both experiments.

As the smartphone system was used by children, the mean PHPsI decreased from the baseline to the second visit (P<0.0001) in both groups, the highest reduction rate was at the buccal surfaces of tooth numbers 16 and 26, and the least was at the labial surfaces of tooth numbers 11 and 31 for both groups.

The smart mirror system showed similar effect in dental plaque control in both adults and children when comparing with conventional TBI. The smartphone exhibited efficacy in plaque control for children in both groups, and could be a potential alternative to the traditional TBI.