“You should brush your teeth better”: a randomized controlled trial comparing best-possible versus as-usual toothbrushing

Table 2 Percentage of brushing time at teeth surfaces and brushing movements

		Brushing as usual (n = 45)	Brushing to the best of one’s ability (n = 46)	t	p	d
		Mean (SD)		t	p	d
% tooth contact time
Occlusal surfaces		44.60 (15.0)	40.52 (12.3)	1.421	0.16	0.30
Outer surfaces		40.63 (11.7)	42.70 (12.5)	-0.818	0.42	0.17
Inner surfaces		14.77 (10.5)	16.78 (11.7)	-0.866	0.39	0.18
% time of different brushing movements at lateral surfaces
Outer surfaces¹	Circular	64.26 (30.8)	64.85 (32.7)	-0.088	0.93	0.02
	Horizontal	33.89 (31.7)	32.41 (32.7)	0.219	0.83	0.05
Inner surfaces^2,3	Vertical	40.23 (33.9)	30.71 (29.8)	1.361	0.18	0.30
	Horizontal	55.36 (33.0)	61.24 (33.8)	-0.803	0.43	0.18

¹Vertical movements were rarely shown at outer surfaces and not considered for statistical analysis. ² Circular movements were rarely shown at inner surfaces and not considered for statistical analysis. ³ Reported values refer to n = 41 vs. n = 42 within groups as usual vs. to the best of one’s abilities, respectively (n = 8 did not spend any time by brushing inner surfaces). d: effect size Cohen’s d

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