The effectiveness of dry and wet teeth-brushing technique using 1.5% enzyme toothpaste as plaque prevention

Introduction: Dental plaque control is the only way to maintain oral hygiene. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of teeth-brushing with the dry compared to the wet-method using toothpaste-containing 1.5% vegetable-enzymes. Methods: The pre-post test study was done using randomly selected sampling. Samples were divided, Group-1: Teeth-brushing with dry-method, Group-2: Teeth-brushing with wet-method. Both participants were instructed to brush their teeth with the roll-method using a toothpaste-containing 1.5% enzymes, then the plaque was examined by the Patient-Hygiene-Performance-Index (PHP) from the dry and wet-brushing-teeth-method after 4 hours. The scoring of plaque was 0 = No-plaque; and 1 = plaque (debris). Data were analyzed by parametric statistical T-test. Results: There is a significant difference between dry and wet brushing-method as determined by paired t-test (p = 0.001). The dry teeth brushing-method scores recorded a PHP Index lower than the wet teeth brushing-method. Conclusion: Dry teeth brushing-method using a toothpaste that contains 1.5% enzymes is effective for the prevention of plaque.