A comparison of the effects of the Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige power toothbrush with A3 Premium All-in-One brush head versus a manual toothbrush on plaque levels and gingival health

 

A short post for today as all the *real* info will come from the link provided.

Recently I was perusing some info online and came across a nice study about the advantages of sonic powered toothbrushes versus manual brushing.  Since we're now 3 weeks into 2025, you may be talking more to patients about their goals for the new year or the ways they want to improve themselves in 2025.

Of course, improving their oral health should be the goal of all of our patients and changing to powered brushing is a great way to do that.  I remember a few years ago I was traveling and got caught up in a flight delay that caused me to miss my connection.  I ended up having to spend the night in a Marriott near Chicago O'hare and unfortunately the airline couldn't provide me with my checked bag.  I ended up checking in at the hotel and asking the front desk for a 'hygiene kit' with some of the items I no longer had with me.  Of course part of that kit was a manual toothbrush and a small tube of toothpaste.

At that point, I hadn't used a manual toothbrush in, literally, years.  As I got ready to turn in, I brushed my teeth and I couldn't believe how different it was to use a manual brush.  Now granted, it wasn't a top of the line manual brush, but still... trying to get things feeling sparkling clean was a chore.  I ended up being glad that I experienced that because from that point on, I had a great story to tell patients about my experience and why I was an even bigger fan of powered brushing.

Getting back to today's post, I came across a nice in-vivo study on the Philips Sonicare 9900 Prestige versus manual brushing.  It's a short read, but pretty enlightening.   There were 104 test subjects so it's a decent sized study with also a variety of ages.  I'm pretty sure that most of us in the profession understand that powered brushes are 'just better' than manual brushing, but I think it's always good to occasionally see studies that confirm our gut feelings or basic knowledge.

The link will take you to a pdf of the study which is nice because if you'd like, you can download it to share with patients or save it to the computer in the hygiene operatory.  You can find the study here:

https://www.philips.com/c-dam/b2c/hu_HU/experience/ClinicalAbstract_GingivalHealth_VIEWING.pdf