Pardon my Quip?



The other day a patient came in for his six month check up. I noticed an increase in the amount of plaque that seemed to be localizing near the gingival margins of his teeth (as compared with his previous cleaning). After completing his cleaning I asked if he was using an electric toothbrush and he proudly explained he was using a new "Quip toothbrush". I have seen the advertisements for this stylish brush on the subway but haven't tried one out yet. It's design is indeed sleek and modern, but
possibly, it may not be delivering the results its users desire.

Decades ago, I supplemented my dental income by "moonlighting" as a examiner for safety and efficacy studies of various tooth brushes. The best brush that I tested was a braun electric Oral B model. These featured relatively powerful reciprocating brush actions that cleaned really well when used properly. These are now sold by Crest (Proctor and Gamble bought Oral B some years ago) and there are rechargeable lithium battery models starting at around $30.



Some say these powerful brushes may cause recession, but if used properly with appropriate force, twice a day, this seems very unlikely to me. I still use one to brush my teeth every day. Furthermore I personally find it hard to believe that any electric model that relies on AA batteries for power , Quip included,  can compete with the efficacy of the Braun designed brushes that use a lithium ion power source. To the best of my knowledge there are no peer review studies that compare these two brushes for their efficacy. I

I did suggest that my "Quipster" patient perform his own personal study. I gave him some red disclosing tablets and asked him brush one side of his mouth with his quip brush and half with an Oral B electric. Afterwards he should chew two disclosing tablets.  After rinsing and spiting out, this should make the retained plaque visible as red marks on his teeth. He took the disclosing tablet and said he would try out my challenge. I am not sure what the result will be, but it seems a good test for users to see which brush works best.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2019/03/pardon-my-quip.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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