Comparative study on plaque removing effcacy of tooth brushing guided by novel area division of dental arch

NIU Lu; DAI Yawen; WANG Shenglei; ZHAO Haiying; LIU Jiacheng; LI Na; ZHANG Qingfu

doi:10.15956/j.cnki.chin.j.conserv.dent.2025.12.002

Abstract：Objective The new zoning of the dental arch divides the maxillary and mandibular dental arches into the apex of the arch,the right and left shoulder of the arch,and the right and left body of the arch.The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of plaque removal by brushing with the guidance of the new zoning method of the dental arch.Methods Sixty healthy adults were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group(30 each).All refrained from oral hygiene the night before and morning of the study.The control group received training in the Bass toothbrushing technique but did not receive instruction on the new segmented brushing method,while the experimental group followed standardized instructions for the new dental arch segmentation method.Intraoral scans were taken before and after brushing,and plaque removal was evaluated using TMQHPI scores and removal rates.Results After brushing,the mean TMQHPI reduction in the experimental group and control group was 10.47(10.38-10.54)and 6.28(6.14-6.39),respectively,with a statistically significant difference between the two groups(P < 0.01).The plaque removal rates were 58.13%(57.6%-58.5%)and 34.83%(34.1%-35.4%),respectively,with a statistically significant difference between the two groups(P < 0.01).Regional analyses also showed that the experimental group had significantly greater TMQHPI reductions and plaque removal rates in all segmented areas(P < 0.01).Conclusion A new dental arch partitioning method for guided tooth brushing removes plaque more effectively than non-partitioned brushing,making it a practice worth promoting.