Outcome variables
calculus, bleeding, Cemento, tooth
PLAQUE, BLEEDING, PLAQUE
An assessment of the soft and hard tissues was done before maintenance treatment at screening (T0), as well as at the follow‐up visits at 4 (T1) weeks and 12 (T2) weeks. All patients have had to exhibit a mild‐moderate inflammatory state of the gingiva (redness/swelling/bleeding on probing) and calculus accumulation around the four anterior lower teeth (31,32,41,42).All clinical parameters were evaluated by the same blinded and calibrated examiner (J.K.);
Clinical photographs—Photographs of buccal and lingual aspects using a professional reflex camera were taken before the clinical measurements and cleaning were done and after 1 month and 3 months. A NIKON D5600 DSLR camera was used, a Nikon AF‐S DX Micro NIKKOR 85 mm f/3,5 G ED VR Lens, and a GODOX ML150 LED Ring flash.Plaque Index (PI)—The bacterial plaque index in teeth 31,32,41,42 was recorded at each tooth site on a scale of 0–3, where 0 denotes no plaque, 1 denotes a thin plaque layer at the gingival margin only detectable by scraping with a probe, 2 denotes a moderate layer of plaque along the gingival margin visible to the naked eye in the sulcus, and 3 denotes large amount of plaque along the gingival margin sulcus and interdental spaces.Periodontal Pocket Depth (PPD) around teeth—Measured from the mucosal margin to the bottom of the probable pocket using a graduated manual periodontal probe (PCP‐UNC 15; Hu‐Friedy®). Six sites per tooth were evaluated (mesiobucal, midbuccal, distobuccal, mesiolingual, midlingual, and distolingual).Bleeding on Probing (BOP)—was recorded dichotomously with either the presence/absence of bleeding within 30 s following probing.Gingival recession (REC)—The Cemento–Enamel Junction (CEJ) was the point of reference to the measurements of the buccal and lingual recessions. In cases where there was excessive plaque or calculus accumulation, the measurement was done after its removal to be more accurate.Calculus assessment—The measurement of the percentage of the clinical crown (incisal edge to free gingival margin), which is covered with calculus via ImageJ software (National Institutes of Health) as shown in Figure Example of calculus percentage calculation via ImageJ software.Assessment of the degree of patient satisfaction: Throughout the research visits, the patients were asked about their level of satisfaction (very high/high/neutral/low/very low) in each of the following topics:
The level of satisfaction with the use of the toothbrush.The level of satisfaction regarding the operational aspect of the toothbrush.The level of satisfaction in the improvement in oral hygiene as a result of the use of the toothbrush.All participants in both groups received toothpaste to use during their participation in the study.The primary outcome was calculus accumulation. Secondary outcomes were periodontal parameters (PI, PPD, BOP, and REC) and subject satisfaction.In our study, we rigorously assessed the intra‐observer reproducibility of our measurements to ensure data reliability and precision. Our observer (YM) conducted a series of 10 repeated measurements, the results of which were subjected to a thorough analysis to identify any discrepancies or variations. We utilized both point estimates and a 95% confidence interval to analyze the differences between measurements. Our findings showed high consistency in our methodology, with the intra‐class correlation coefficient (ICC) for calculus percentage measurements achieving remarkably high scores of 0.92 and 0.90. This demonstrates an exceptional level of reproducibility, thereby strengthening the reliability of our measurements. Furthermore, the depth of the periodontal pockets (ppd) was also measured, yielding a mean difference of −0.340 mm with a 95% confidence interval ranging from −0.56 to −0.042 (