Electric Toothbrushing Pitfalls, Rachel J. Kulchar, UG (2276841)

As the most prevalent chronic disease, dental caries, or tooth decay, is exacerbated by inadequate plaque removal. Oftentimes, people assume that electric toothbrushes are a very efficient way to remove such bacteria. However, as dental brushing recommendations are based on the motions of a manual toothbrush, incorrect brushing techniques are often abundant with the use of an electric toothbrush. Therefore, we aimed to study toothbrushing techniques among 12 powered toothbrush users in their home setting. From this, we saw that nearly 92% of users brushed their teeth for less than 2 minutes, many users were inconsistent with their brushing techniques across each session, almost 20% of users employed high levels of pressure, and each region of the mouth was not brushed evenly for the same amount of time. Interestingly, the outer, visible surfaces of the tooth were brushed significantly longer than the inner or flat surfaces of the tooth. Thus, there still exists gaps in correct brushing habits among powered toothbrush users. We hope this research can be translated to the clinical scale, with dentists empowering their powered toothbrush using patients' optimal strategies to degrade dental plaque and combat the formation of dental caries. Tailored brushing recommendations on an individual basis are needed as people’s brushing patterns tend to contrast on group scale.