Fig 1.
Flow chart of study procedures.
Fig 2.
Areas of the Rustogi modified Navy-Plaque-Index (RMNPI).
A and D represent the mesial proximal areas, C and F the distal proximal areas.
Table 1.
Description of instruction of the toothbrushing techniques.
Fig 3.
Principle of planimetric analysis.
a) Original image; b) same image as (a), but after contrast enhancement; c) cropped tooth surfaces, converted into grey-scale; d) individually marked plaque covered areas, ready for automatic calculation of percentage of the tooth surface covered by disclosed plaque of the total tooth surface (P%D).
Fig 4.
Occurrence of brushing movements on the buccal surfaces in the study quadrant.
OFF-NI: habitual brushing using the toothbrush as a manual toothbrush; ON-NI: habitual brushing after activation of sonication; OFF-I: post instruction brushing using the toothbrush as a manual toothbrush; ON-I: post instruction brushing after activation of sonication; MBT: movements according to the Modified Bass Technique (combination of jiggling and wiping out); y-axis: number of participants showing a certain movement pattern; different types of movements can occur in one participant.
Fig 5.
Boxplots of disclosed plaque of the total tooth surface (P%D) per tooth at baseline and post-brushing.
All differences in P%D values between baseline and post-brushing were significant. Baseline: after 4 days refraining from oral hygiene; Post-brushing: after a single brushing exercise. OFF-NI: habitual brushing in OFF mode; ON-NI: habitual brushing in ON mode; OFF-I: post instruction brushing with the Modified Bass Technique in OFF mode; ON-I: post instruction brushing according to the manufacturer in ON mode; PM1 = first premolar; PM2 = second premolar; M1 = first molar.
Table 2.
Descriptive presentation of the percentage reduction between baseline and post-brushing for planimetric values (Δ%P%D), and for RMNPI values (Δ%RMNPI) averaged over the three teeth given as mean (±SD).
Fig 6.
Boxplots of RMNPI values (range 0 to 9) per tooth at baseline and post-brushing.
OFF-NI: habitual brushing in OFF mode; ON-NI: habitual brushing in ON mode; OFF-I: post instruction brushing with the Modified Bass Technique in OFF mode; ON-I: post instruction brushing according to the manufacturer in ON mode; PM1 = first premolar; PM2 = second premolar; M1 = first molar.
Table 3.
Percentage reduction (mean (±SD)) of RMNPI values (Δ%RMNPI) after brushing in selected areas.