Consultants’ Comments
- “No staining or problems.”
- “Restorations look great! Good luster, texture and color.”
- “The veneers look as good as the day we placed them.”
- “Oral hygiene has improved – it’s much better.”
- “Sonicare FlexCare+ helps to keep the restorations looking like new.”
- “The toothbrush was very gentle to the porcelain with no adverse effects.”
- “Margins, luster and esthetics show no change.”
- “No change in surface quality of porcelain.”
- “Luster is really beautiful.”
Description
The Sonicare FlexCare+ is a rechargeable sonic toothbrush, with a UV brush head sanitizer, that is designed to provide complete gum care. The cleaning action drives fluid between the teeth to remove plaque along the gumline and deep between the teeth. The Sonicare FlexCare+ provides five user modes to improve gum health: Clean (for whole mouth cleaning), Gum Care (for improved gum health), Refresh (for quick touch-ups), Sensitive (extra-gentle on sensitive teeth) and Massage (for gum stimulation) – backlighting indicates selected mode. Sonicare FlexCare+ features the Quadpacer and Smarttimer which encourages the recommended whole mouth cleaning for two minutes; the tone changes when it is time to move to the next quadrant of the mouth. The UV brush head sanitizer is designed to kill up to 99% of bacteria and viruses on the brush head. The Sonicare FlexCare+ is sold with a toothbrush handpiece, a standard ProResults brush head, a compact ProResults brush head, a UV sanitizer, a travel charger, a hygienic travel cap, 3 additional brush head color code rings, and a travel case.
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of use of the Sonicare FlexCare+ on ceramic and composite dental restorations over a six-month period.
Evaluation Protocol
Ninety-seven patients were provided with a Sonicare FlexCare+ toothbrush to use at home twice daily for six months.
- Patients had restorations placed within 120 days including anterior porcelain veneers, implant crowns, and various direct composite restorations.
- Ratings of the appearance of the restorations were recorded at baseline.
- Restorations were rated on the following scale: 1=Poor; 2=Fair; 3=Good; 4=Very Good; 5=Excellent.
Results
At placement and before use of Sonicare FlexCare+, restorations were rated for condition of enamel, marginal integrity and esthetics. Condition of enamel and marginal integrity received ratings of 97 to 100% very good to excellent (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Ratings of restorations at placement before use of Sonicare FlexCare+.
Six months after placement of restorations and use of Sonicare FlexCare+ by patients, the restorations were rated by dentists and by patients (Figures 2 and 3). Ratings by dentists ranged from 4.6 for luster and like-new appearance to 5.0 for patient satisfaction and lack of chipping. Ratings by patients ranged from 4.1 for gentleness of Sonicare FlexCare+ on teeth, gums and restorations to 4.5 on overall clean feeling after use.
Figure 2. Ratings by dentists after use of Sonicare FlexCare+ by patients for six months.
Figure 3. Ratings by patients after their use of Sonicare FlexCare+ for six months.
After using Sonicare FlexCare+ for six months, 85% of patients preferred it over their previous toothbrush (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Patient preference for Sonicare FlexCare+ after use for six months.
