Longterm effect of sonic toothbrush on periimplant tissues and microbiota

Longterm effect of sonic toothbrush on periimplant tissues and microbiota
R. JURIC1, B. SIMONCIC1, K. SEME2, A. KANSKY2, and B. SOTOSEK3, 1 Simed zobozdravstvo d.o.o, Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2 Medical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 3 Oralna kirurgija, Ljubljana, Slovenia
March 2004
Clinical Implant Studies
Objectives: This 4 year prospective clinical study investigated the effect of Sonicare¨? sonic toothbrush vs. manual toothbrush on periimplant soft tissue condition and periimplant microflora composition on Ti implants. Methods: 18 patients (9 male, 9 female, mean age 39) with 29 Ti implants were randomly assigned to either test SC group using sonic toothbrush (15 implants) or control MT group using manual toothbrush (14 implants). Professional cleaning in both groups at baseline and additional cleaning at 36 month in MT group only was performed. Gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), pocket depth (PD) as well as plaque samples for dark field microscopy evaluation were collected at baseline, 2, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 months. Bacterial morphotypes were classified as Type 1: potentially non-pathogenic (cocci, nonmotile rods) or Type 2: potentially pathogenic (motile rods, spirochetes, others). Results: There was significant decrease in GI and PI values in SC group (p<0,001), while GI and PI in MT group increased significantly over 4 years despite of additional cleaning in MT group only (p<0,001). PD increased significantly in MT group only (p<0,001), while PD decrease in SC group was nonsignificant. Increase of pathogenic Type 2 and decrease of non-pathogenic Type 1 morphotypes was significant in MT group only (p<0,01), while Type 1 to Type 2 ratio in SC group did not change significantly. Conclusion: Sonic toothbrush is significantly more effective in maintaining healthy periimplant soft tissues as well as preventing increase of pathogenic morphotypes in periimplant plaque as manual toothbrush over longterm period. This study was founded in part by Philips Oral Healthcare, Inc., USA.