Periodontal Disease Maintenance

There are a few studies that demonstrate the effect of automatic toothbrushes on periodontal disease parameters.3,23,24 Robinson et al. compared a sonic and oscillating brush in the areas of PI, papillary bleeding (PBS), PD, and probing attachment level (PAL). While there were no statistically significant differences in PI between the products, the sonic unit demonstrated statistical significance in reducing PBS (31.9% vs.18.1%), PD (0.84 mm vs. 0.39 mm), and PAL (0.19 mm versus -0.03 mm).23 Likewise, O’Beirne et al. studied the effect of a sonic brush on periodontal disease. Using the client as the unit of measure, the sonic brush demonstrated a significant decrease in GCF when compared to the manual (27% vs. 11%). However, there were no between group statistically significant differences in the clinical measures of PD, GI, CAL, or expression of cytokines.24 Yukna et al. evaluated a counterrotational brush with clients in supportive periodontal therapy and found superior BOP reductions compared to a manual brush.3