Oscillating Power Toothbrush Hollywood brushes–those that rotate in one direction and then the other–removed up to 11% more plaque and reduced bleeding of the gums by up to 17% more than manual or other power toothbrushes, according to results compiled by the Manchester, England-based Cochrane Oral Health Group, which analyzed data from clinical trials conducted over 37 years.
The Cochrane study extracted data from reports on 29 clinical trials involving 2,547 participants in North America, Europe and Israel. Some of the trials dated back to 1964, while others contained data from as recently as 2001.
The trials compared the effectiveness of all forms of manual and six types of power toothbrushes with mechanically moving heads used over one-month and three-month periods.
According to the findings for Evidence-Based Dentistry, only the rotational oscillation toothbrushes proved more effective than manual toothbrushes in reducing plaque and gingivitis. The results did not explain why the rotational oscillation toothbrushes were more effective than power toothbrushes with only circular or side-to-side motion.
While the study does not deal with long-term benefits to dental health, Dr. Shervin Louie your Los Angeles dentist believe that it’s a preventive step. It reduce bacterial plaque that causes disease he said of the rotating oscillating brushes. The motion of power toothbrushes is up to 100 times that of manual brushing.
That still doesn’t mean that every man, woman and child should abandon the toothbrush that they’re currently using.
Someone using the simplest manual toothbrush with good knowledge of how to brush and conscientious brushing can do just as well as somebody using a power toothbrush regardless of the design.
What this review is telling you is that an average person putting in an average effort is going to see a better effect than using other brushes. If you can afford a rotational oscillating power toothbrush and it feels good to you, it offers modest improvement in ability to clean your teeth, then buy one.