HydroFloss Oral Irrigator - Clinical Studies

J Clin Periodontal 1998; 25: 316-321 Printed in Denmark All rights reserved

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a magnetized water oral irrigator on plaque, calculus, and gingival health. 29 patients completed this double-blind crossover study. Each patient was brought to baseline via an oral prophylaxis with a plaque index £ 1 and a gingival index £ 1. Subjects used the irrigator for a period of 3 months with the magnet and 3 months without the magnet. After each 3 month interval, data were collected using the plaque index, gingival index, and accretions index. The repeated measures analysis on plaque, gingival and calculus indices yielded a statistically-significant period effect for P1I (p=0.0343), GI (p=0.0091), and approached significance for calculus (p=0.0593). This meant that the effect of irrigation resulted in a decrease of all indices over time. Therefore, the treatment effect on each index was evaluated using only the measurements obtained at the end of the first period (i.e., assuming a parallel design). Irrigation with magnetized water resulted in 64% less calculus compared to the control group. The reduction was statistically significant (p£ 0.02). The reduction by 27% in gingival index was not statistically significant. The reduction in plaque was minimal (2.2%). A strong positive correlation between the plaque index and the Watt accretion was observed. The magnetized water oral irrigator could be a useful adjunct in the prevention of calculus accumulation in periodontal patients, but appears to have minimal effect on plaque reduction. The results indicated a clinical improvement in the gingival index, but this was not a statistically significant finding.

JOURNAL OF CLINICAL PERIODONTOLOGY

The effect of oral irrigation with a magnetic water treatment device on plaque and calculus

Abstract: Calculus formation on tooth surfaces is analogous to the formation of lime and scale deposits in plumbing. Magnetic water devices have been shown to significantly reduce scale deposits in industry; therefore an oral irrigator with a magnetic water device may have a similar effect on calculus. To test this hypothesis, a double-blind clinical study was established using 64 irrigators, 30 of which had their magnetic devices removed. 54 patients with heavy supragingival calculus were given irrigators at random after prophylaxis. Instructions were given to irrigate twice a day, particularly the lower 6 anterior teeth. The patients were also told not to floss these 6 teeth which were to be the study teeth. They were examined after 3 months and measurements were taken of the accretions adhering to the study teeth. No attempt was made to determine whether the adhering material was hard or soft so it must be assumed that at least some of the measured material was also plaque.

The measurements of the group using an irrigator with a magnetic device showed a 44% greater reduction in calculus volume (p<0.0005) and a 42% greater reduction in area (p<0.0001) over the group using an un-magnetized irrigator. There appears to be a statistically significant difference in supragingival accretion volumes between conventional irrigation and using an irrigator with a magnetic water treatment device.