Objectives: Previous toothbrush abrasion studies have measured wear using a flat specimen configuration. This study measured the wear of dentin and restorative material substrates from manual and powered toothbrushes with a specimen modeled to simulate the prominences of teeth. Material & Methods: Dentin(DE) sections and restorative materials temporary polymethylmethacrylate(PMMA), glass ionomer(GI), resin modified glass ionmer(RMGI) and flowable composite resin(FC) were cast within resin producing a specimen configuration with 3 half-round ridges: a central ridge containing the experimental substrate (3x10mm) and two similar ridges on each side of the central ridge (n=12). The specimens were exposed for the equivalent of two years of brushing using a machine that simulated typical movement of a toothbrush across the specimen under controlled load and toothbrush slurry fluid conditions. Brushing was done with either a manual toothbrush (MTB) Oral-B 35 @250g load or one of 2 powered toothbrushes (PTB1) Braun Oral-B35 3D Excel & (PTB2) Philips Sonicare Elite @150g load. Substrate wear was measured by profilometry and calculated as Av (average) and Mx (maximum) wear. Results: Mean (sd) depth of toothbrush induced substrate wear [um]: Dentin/PMMA/GI/RMGI/FC: MTB-Av 65.2(16.8),13.8(2.5),17.7(3.7),18.1(3.8),6.5(1.5); MTB-Mx 107.9(32.2),34.4(1.4),36.5(2.1),36.7(1.6),10.2(2.3); PTB1-Av 65.4(11.4),19.3(4.5),16.2(4.2),16.8(3.8),3.2(1.1); PTB1-Mx 104.3(21.9),35.9(2.9),35.1(1.2),36.2(1.6),5.3(1.2); PTB2-Av 16.5(3.5),5.9(2.1),21.0(4),19.7(5.6), 1.6(0.5); PTB2-Mx 36.5(3.5),11.6(3.1),37.4(1.8),37.9(4.2),2.9(0.6). Conclusions: ANOVA and Tukey's showed significant differences between group means. Greater wear occurred on the dentin substrate. For dentin & PMMA, the MTB & PTB1 produced about 3 to 4 times greater average wear than PTB2 (p<0.05). For GI, RMGI & FC varying levels of wear occurred. FC was most resistant to toothbrush wear in the ridged configuration model. This study was partially funded by Philips Oral Healthcare, Snoqualmie, WA, USA.

Back to the Dental Materials: VIII - Others-Non-metallic Program
Back to the 81st General Session of the International Association for Dental Research (June 25-28, 2003)

Top Level Search