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To evaluate the effect of different oral irrigators on the sub‐gingival microbiome composition in patients with naturally occurring plaque‐induced gingivitis.

Sub‐gingival plaque was collected from adults participating in a clinical trial assessing the efficacy of oral hygiene with two different oral irrigators (Waterpik Water Flosser [Group 1] and Oral‐B Water Flosser [Group 2]) versus dental flossing (Group 3) for microbiome analysis. Plaque samples were reflective of naturally occurring plaque‐induced gingivitis at baseline and of gingival health at the endpoint (4 weeks). Clinical measures of gingival inflammation were collected, and the sub‐gingival microbiome was analysed by 16S rRNA sequencing to identify amplicon sequence variants.

Oral hygiene instruction with self‐performed manual toothbrushing and water‐jet irrigation led to significant reductions in inflammation for all …