You don’t need an electric toothbrush, researchers say

Don’t bother flossing or even using an electric toothbrush, come to that.  There’s no evidence either will help keep your teeth and gums healthy, researchers claim.

Instead, it’s enough to use a basic toothbrush, interdental brushes, a water pick and essential oil mouth rinses to keep caries and receding gums at bay.

As to the rest, it’s more fiction than fact and can be kept on the pharmacy shelf until they are proven to work, say researchers from the University of Buffalo.  

Brushing your teeth every day is the cornerstone of oral health and helps control dental plaque, but you can achieve that with a simple manual toothbrush; an electric version doesn’t add any further benefit, the researchers say.

Also proven are interdental brushes, a water pick, and mouth rinses that contain CHX (chlorhexidine gluconate), CPC (cetylpyridinium chloride) or essential oils.

Toothpicks are also useful for keeping on top of gum health; gently prodding the gum for any signs of bleeding can help detect early signs of gum disease.

But you can do away with the electric toothbrush, dental floss, and other types of mouth rinse.  An electric toothbrush is no more effective than a manual one for reducing plaque and gingivitis, the researchers concluded.  

And while flossing doesn’t seem to reduce the spread of gum disease, it does have some benefits.  “Floss helps remove interdental plaque for people who have tight spaces between their teeth,” said Frank Scannapieco, one of the researchers.

(Source: Journal of the International Academy of Periodontology, 2021; 23: 4)

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