Clinical efficacy of two toothbrushes with different bristles

Objectives: The purpose of this single-blind clinical study was to evaluate the efficacy of a new manual toothbrush Meridol® (GABA International, Münchenstein, Switzerland) versus a traditional one (ADA, Chicago, IL, USA). Methods: The toothbrushes were randomly assigned to 30 volunteers in a student population of the Dental School of the University of Bologna, divided into 15 test and 15 control subjects. A clinical examination assessing Plaque Index (PI), Gingival Index (GI) and buccal Gingival Recessions was performed at baseline, 3 and 6 months. During the baseline examination, each subject received dental debridment, oral hygiene instructions and a standard kit containing: 3 standard tubes of toothpaste, 1 hourglass (2 minutes), and 1 plaque disclosing solution; each subject of the test group received 3 Meridol® toothbrushes, while each subject of the control group received 3 ADA toothbrushes. Results: During the 6 months of observation both groups presented a PI and GI decrease. A more evident improvement of both indices was observed in the test group (PI p=0.0001, GI p=0.0001). The greatest part of recessions remained stable during the observation time in both groups, some amplitude modifications (0.5 mm) were mainly detected in the first three months (control group χ2 =17.55, p=0.0001; test group χ2 =3.31, p=0.07). They always increased in the control group and decreased in the study group. Conclusions: These results demonstrate that the new manual toothbrush Meridol® is more likely to be effective in reducing PI and GI compared to the traditional one, and widely safe on periodontal tissues during the period of observation.