News
Dental hygiene clinical trial finds help for bleeding gums
April 22, 2010 - Clinical assistant professor Pauline Imai and clinical module coordinator and instructor Penny Hatzimanolakis conducted a randomized, controlled clinical trial comparing a novel interdental brush system to dental floss. The clinical trial involved 32 adults with intact but bleeding interdental papillae—a vulnerable area of the gums.
Subjects used the appropriate-sized interdental brush on one side of the mouth and waxed dental floss on the other side for three months. The interdental brush was significantly better at reducing bleeding than the dental floss. In the exit survey, the majority of subjects indicated that they preferred the interdental brush because it was easy to use and they were more willing to continue its daily use compared to dental floss.
“What we found is that the interdental brush used in the trial—in this case, a Curaprox interdental brush—is an effective, easy-to-use alternative to dental floss,” says Imai, who acknowledges the Canadian Foundation for Dental Hygiene Research and Education and the British Columbia Dental Hygienists’ Association for grants in support of the study.
Conflict of Interest Statement: The investigators are not affiliated with Curaprox and have not received any compensation from Curaden Swiss to promote Curaprox interdental brushes. The study was conducted independently.
