Resumo

ANDRADE, Ingrid Machado de et al. Effectiveness of manual and electric brushes in the removal of biofilm from full dentures. RGO, Rev. gaúch. odontol. (Online) [online]. 2013, vol.61, n.1, pp. 21-26. ISSN 1981-8637.

Objective To evaluate clinically the ability to remove biofilm from complete dentures. Methods Thirty patients, users of full upper dentures, participated in a trial period of 21 days and were instructed to brush the dentures three times a day (after breakfast, lunch and dinner) with water, using a manual, special denture brush (Group I - Control) and electric brush (Group II - Experimental). At night, the patients were instructed to immerse their dentures in a container with filtered water. Before and after the use of these methods for 21 days, the internal surfaces of the complete upper dentures were stained (1% neutral red) and photographed. The areas (total of internal surface and the surface stained with biofilm) were quantified using software (Image Tool 2.02). The percentage of the biofilm was calculated as the ratio of the area of the biofilm multiplied by 100 to the total surface area of the internal base of the dentures. Results The data for the two methods were compared using the Student's t-test (αα = 0.05). There was a mean area of biofilm coverage (%, ± standard deviation) of 12.5 ± 12.8 and 16.9 ± 17.0 for the manual and electric toothbrushes, respectively. The differences were not significant (t = 0.799, P = 0.431). Conclusion It was concluded that both brushes tested showed the same capacity for biofilm removal from complete dentures.

Palavras-chave : Biofilm; Denture cleansers; Denture complete; Tooth brushing.