Efficacy and Safety of a Novel Water Flosser—A Comparative Clinical Study

Abstract

The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical efficacy of manual brushing plus water flosser (WP 100) to manual brushing alone on improving the oral health parameters of plaque, bleeding, and gingivitis. The materials and methods used were 100 subjects between 18 to 30 years of age with mild-to-moderate gingivitis and they were included in this 4-week study. Subjects in the test group were assigned to use water flosser and manual brushing whereas control group subjects carried out manual brushing alone. Both groups were advised to brush twice daily using the modified bass technique. Subjects were scored at 0 day, 14th day and 28th day for gingival inflammation (gingival index), gingival bleeding (bleeding index) and plaque (modified plaque index). Both groups showed statistically significant plaque, gingivitis, bleeding reduction at 4 weeks, respectively but the test group was significantly better than control group at 2 and 4 weeks. In a nutshell, this clinical study demonstrated that water flosser as an adjunct to brushing is an effective oral hygiene regimen.