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Mechanical control of biofilm in children with cerebral palsy: a randomized clinical trial
Author(s) -
Ferraz Nayara Kelly Lyrio,
Tataounoff Juliana,
Nogueira Lilian Capanema,
RamosJorge Joana,
RamosJorge Maria Leticia,
Pimenta Pinheiro Marcos Luciano
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of paediatric dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.183
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1365-263X
pISSN - 0960-7439
DOI - 10.1111/ipd.12132
Subject(s) - medicine , cerebral palsy , toothbrush , dentistry , wilcoxon signed rank test , tooth brushing , randomized controlled trial , analysis of variance , crossover study , significant difference , statistical significance , physical therapy , surgery , brush , placebo , electrical engineering , alternative medicine , mann–whitney u test , pathology , engineering
Background Dental biofilm removal is difficult and can be ineffective in individuals with cerebral palsy. Objective Determine the effectiveness of brushing with an electric toothbrush on and off in comparison with manual brushing for the removal of biofilm in children aged four to 16 years with cerebral palsy. Methods A crossover, randomized, simple‐blind, clinical trial was conducted. The examiner was blinded to the brushing method (G1: manual; G2: electric toothbrush on; and G3: electric toothbrush off). The order was determined randomly. The participants ( n = 40) were examined before and after brushing performed by caregivers using the Turesky–Quigley–Hein biofilm index. Statistical analysis involved the paired t‐test, Wilcoxon, Kruskal–Wallis, and anova tests. Results Biofilm was significantly reduced with the three brushing methods ( P < 0.001) (mean reductions: 47.6% in G1; 47.4% in G2; 44.5% in G3). Significant differences were found between G1 and G3 ( P < 0.001) and between G2 and G3 ( P = 0.007). No significant difference was found between G1 and G2 ( P = 0.06). Conclusion All methods reduced biofilm. Effectiveness was similar between manual brushing and with the electric toothbrush on, whereas both these methods achieved better results in comparison with the electric toothbrush switched off.