Strength of disposable floss holders: A new test model of applying vertical force to dental floss

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Published: Aug 5, 2019
Keywords:
dental floss, floss holder, interdental cleaning, plaque removal, strength test

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Vanida Nimmanon
Department of Advanced General Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Oranut Jearsujitwimol
Department of Advanced General Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Wisunee Witayawarakul
Department of Advanced General Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Sasipa Thiradilok
Department of Advanced General Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Somchai Manopatanakul
Department of Advanced General Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand
Kawin Sipiyaruk
Dental Hospital, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.

Abstract

Objective: To compare strengths of seven disposable floss holders, which were five F-shaped and two Y-shaped, by applying vertical force to floss attached on each holder.


Materials and Methods: This study employed an experimental design. Each floss holder was held on the dental stone platform while testing was conducted, using the Instron universal mechanical testing machine. This machine exerted the force vertically at the mid length of the dental floss until the floss was torn or pulled out. The failure force that caused tear or pull-out of the dental floss was recorded. The data was then analyzed statistically with one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s multiple comparison (α=0.05). Weibull analysis was also performed. Moreover, the percentage of the failure characteristics of the floss holder was recorded.


Result: All types of floss holders passed the strength test at 11 N as recommended by Dörfer et al. (2001). The failure characteristics were dental floss pull-out of the holder (F1, F2, F4, Y1, Y2) rather than the tear of the floss (F3, F5). There were statistically significant differences (p<0.001) between the maximum force in the F3 group and almost all other groups except the F5 group. The F3 group showed the maximum strength and Weibull modulus at 46.64 and 14.98, respectively. The F2 group, despite passing the strength test, showed the minimum strength consistency (Weibull modulus of 4.79).


Conclusions: To summarize, all dental floss holders pass the standard; F3 group showed the maximum strength, while the F2 group had the least strength consistency. Overall, the connection between dental floss and floss holder plays the key role determining the strength of this appliance.

Article Details

How to Cite
1.
Nimmanon V, Jearsujitwimol O, Witayawarakul W, Thiradilok S, Manopatanakul S, Sipiyaruk K. Strength of disposable floss holders: A new test model of applying vertical force to dental floss. M Dent J [Internet]. 2019 Aug. 5 [cited 2024 May 3];39(3):223-30. Available from: https://he02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/mdentjournal/article/view/181292
Issue
Vol. 39 No. 3 (2019): September-December
Section
Original articles

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