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Abstract: Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to establish the effectiveness of brushing with a triple‐headed manual toothbrush compared to a single‐headed manual toothbrush on plaque removal. Materials and methods: The MEDLINE‐PubMed and Cochrane‐CENTRAL databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were clinical trials conducted with humans without fixed orthodontic appliances who were not dental care professionals. Papers that evaluated the effect of toothbrushing with a triple‐headed manual toothbrush compared to a single‐headed manual toothbrush on plaque removal were included. Data were extracted from the eligible studies, and a descriptive analysis was performed. Result: The search retrieved 15 eligible publications including 18 relevant comparisons. Heterogeneity was most obvious with respect to the person who performed the brushing, either the participants themselves or a caregiver responsible for daily oral hygiene. Additionally, participant characteristics such as age and individual disabilities varied. A lack of appropriate data and a variation in the indices used allowed only a descriptive analysis. Of the 14 comparisons with self‐performed brushing by the participants, the majority showed no difference between triple‐headed and single‐headed toothbrushes, with a few favouring the triple‐headed. In the comparisons in which a caregiver performed the brushing, three of the four showed that the triple‐headed toothbrush performed significantly better on the reduction in plaque scores. Conclusion: From this review emerges the recommendation that the use of a triple‐headed manual toothbrush instead of a single‐headed manual toothbrush might be favorable with respect to plaque removal in case a care‐dependent individual is brushed by a caregiver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The aim of this systematic review was to establish the effectiveness of brushing with a triple-headed manual toothbrush compared to a single-headed manual toothbrush on plaque removal., Materials and Methods: The MEDLINE-PubMed and Cochrane-CENTRAL databases were searched. The inclusion criteria were clinical trials conducted with humans without fixed orthodontic appliances who were not dental care professionals. Papers that evaluated the effect of toothbrushing with a triple-headed manual toothbrush compared to a single-headed manual toothbrush on plaque removal were included. Data were extracted from the eligible studies, and a descriptive analysis was performed., Result: The search retrieved 15 eligible publications including 18 relevant comparisons. Heterogeneity was most obvious with respect to the person who performed the brushing, either the participants themselves or a caregiver responsible for daily oral hygiene. Additionally, participant characteristics such as age and individual disabilities varied. A lack of appropriate data and a variation in the indices used allowed only a descriptive analysis. Of the 14 comparisons with self-performed brushing by the participants, the majority showed no difference between triple-headed and single-headed toothbrushes, with a few favouring the triple-headed. In the comparisons in which a caregiver performed the brushing, three of the four showed that the triple-headed toothbrush performed significantly better on the reduction in plaque scores., Conclusion: From this review emerges the recommendation that the use of a triple-headed manual toothbrush instead of a single-headed manual toothbrush might be favorable with respect to plaque removal in case a care-dependent individual is brushed by a caregiver., (© 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Studies on the neural basis of general fluid intelligence strongly suggest that a smarter brain processes information faster. Different brain areas, however, are interconnected by both feedforward and feedback projections. Whether both types of connections or only one of the two types are faster in smarter brains remains unclear. Here we show, by measuring visual evoked potentials during a texture discrimination task, that general fluid intelligence shows a strong correlation with processing speed in recurrent visual networks, while there is no correlation with speed of feedforward connections. The hypothesis that a smarter brain runs faster may need to be refined: a smarter brain's feedback connections run faster.

Conservative dentistry in developing countries often poses a problem because of lack of expensive dental equipment. This survey was undertaken to test two more appropriate filling materials in vivo. In 94 secondary school students (in Mzuzu, Malawi) with two or more cavities, one cavity was prepared in the conventional way using drilling equipment and then filled with amalgam, and one cavity was prepared using hand instruments only and filled with either cermet ionomer or "miracle mix". Models of the filled teeth (99 amalgam, 53 "miracle mix", 54 cermet ionomer; all of them Class 1) were made and evaluated by three examiners after 6 months and after 1 yr. The fillings were given a score on a four-point scale. One year later all types of filling materials had significantly decreased in quality, but only five fillings (one amalgam, one "miracle mix", and three cermet ionomer) needed replacement. Compared to the amalgam filling in the same mouth, more cermet ionomer and "miracle mix" fillings performed poorly, but these differences were not statistically significant after 1 yr. Both cermet ionomer and "miracle mix" are very promising alternatives for Class I tooth cavities in areas without dental equipment.