Research on the cleaning efficacy of micro-bubbles on dental plaque

Pei-Ju Lin, Ming-Chuen Chuang, Szu-Chung Chang

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

Long-term bed-ridden patients do not usually have the same opportunity for proper dental hygiene as normal individuals, as they often have difficulty using toothbrushes to clean their teeth. Patients with periodontal disease are also at risk of increased bacterial infection due to the propensity for teeth brushing causing bleeding of the gums. Therefore, an alternative method of dental hygiene maintenance is required for these individuals. Our study proposed a method to clean dental plaque through a tooth tray with micro-bubbles and verified its cleaning efficacy through experiment. A cleaning device that produces micro bubbles (Braun MD20) was used in the study with five separately modified nozzle diameters as the independent variable: 0.16mm, 0.30mm, 0.63mm, 0.8mm and 1.2mm. The five different rotation speed settings of the device act as the other independent variable, with the resulting flow volume, velocity and the diameter of the micro-bubbles as the intermediate variables. The effects of these variables on cleaning dental plaque were investigated. Our results showed that an average of 45%similar to 75% cleaning rate of dental plaque was achieved under all combinations of the variables. The best dental plaque removal variable combination was nozzle diameter 0.8mm with speed of 3527 rpm, in which 98% dental plaque removal was achieved. The dimension of the nozzle exerted greater influence on flow volume, flow velocity and bubble diameter than rotation speed. The effect of the control variables on plaque removal was also more significant than intermediate variables, with the nozzle dimension influencing plaque removal at 0.05 significance level. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON APPLIED HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS (AHFE 2015) AND THE AFFILIATED CONFERENCES, AHFE 2015
PublisherElsevier Science Publishers B.V.
Pages13-20
Number of pages8
Volume3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015
Event6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) - Las Vegas, United States
Duration: 26 Jul 201530 Jul 2015

Publication series

NameProcedia Manufacturing
Volume3
ISSN (Print)2351-9789

Conference

Conference6th International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE)
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityLas Vegas
Period26/07/1530/07/15

Keywords

  • Micro-bubble; Dental plaque; Tooth tray; Periodontal disease

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