Efficacy of sonic vs manual toothbrushing after professional mechanical plaque removal: a 6-months randomized clinical trial

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of two brushing methods (manual vs sonic) in terms of plaque control after a session of Professional Mechanical Plaque Removal (PMPR). Methods: Subjects with gingivitis underwent a session of PMPR and were assigned to sonic (SB) or manual brushing (MB). Oral hygiene instructions were provided at baseline, 2 (T0a), 4 (T0b) and 6 weeks (T1), and 6 months (T2). Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI) and Bleeding on Probing (BoP) were measured at baseline, T1 and T2. A satisfaction questionnaire was administered. Proportion of sites with PI, GI and BoP was modelled at site level using a Poisson regression fitted via GLMM model accounting for intra-patient correlation. Results: 32 subjects were selected. At T1, average PI was 4.93% for SB and 24.16% for MB (ratio 0.20, p<0.001), while at T2 was 9.36% and 29.15% respectively (ratio 0.32, p<0.001). GI was lower in the SB group both at T1 (ratio 0.34, p<0.001) and T2 (ratio 0.35, p=0.001). BoP reduction for SB was about 3 times higher than MB at T1 (ratio 0.35, p<0.001) and then levelled at T2. The overall comfort was satisfactory for both techniques. Conclusion: Sonic brushing allows the maintenance of a significantly lower PI score compared to a manual brush.