Effective oral care is a critical requirement to maintain a high quality of life. Most oral diseases are caused by plaque (oral biofilm), which is also correlated with systemic diseases. A common method to remove biofilm is brushing teeth with toothpaste. However, 3.5 billion people in the world have oral diseases, meaning that more efficient methods of removing biofilms are needed. We have developed a toothbrush that applies a bioelectric effect (BE) utilizing an electric force for biofilm removal. It demonstrated significantly higher biofilm removal efficiency than non-BE manual toothbrushes. Tests were performed in saline and toothpaste conditions using various pressures. Results showed that the BE toothbrush had a significantly higher biofilm removal efficiency in saline (0.5 N: 215.43 ± 89.92%, 2.5 N: 116.77 ± 47.02%) and in a toothpaste slurry (0.5 N: 104.96 ± 98.93%, 2.5 N: 96.23 ± 35.16%) than non-BE manual toothbrushes. Results also showed that BE toothbrushes were less dependent on toothpaste. This study suggests that the application of BE can be a new solution to plaque problems in oral care.
Keywords: bioelectric effect; biofilm; dental; microcurrent; plaque; toothbrush.