Table 1.

Search strategy and terms. MEDLINE via EBSCOhost.

Main Concept	Search Number	Search Term	Boolean Operator
PROBLEM Interdental Plaque	S1	MH “Dental plaque”
	S2	MH “Dental plaque index”
	S3	“dental plaque”
	S4	“dental plaque index”
	S5	“plaque index”
	S6	“dental biofilm”
	S7	MH “Biofilms”
	S8	biofilms
	S9	MH “Dental Deposits”
	S10	“Dental deposits”
	S11	MH “toothbrushing”
	S12	toothbrushing
	S13	MH “oral hygiene”
	S14	“oral hygiene”
	S15		Combine S1–S14 with OR
	S16	interdental
	S17	inter-dental
	S18	interproximal
	S19	inter-proximal
	S20	proximal
	S21	approximal
	S22		Combine S16–S21 with OR
FINAL PROBLEM SEARCH	S23		Combine S15 and S22 with AND (search A)
INTERVENTION Toothbrushing with an oscillating toothbrush	S24	elect* N3 toothbrush*
	S25	power* N3 toothbrush*
	S26	battery N3 toothbrush*
	S27		Combine S24–S26 with OR (search B)
	S28	oscillat*
	S29	sonic
	S30	MH “sonication”
	S31	sonication
	S32	“side-to-side”
	S33	MH “Vibration”
	S34	vibrat*
	S35	Sonicare
	S36		Combine S28–S35 with OR (search C)
FINAL INTERVENTION SEARCH	S37		Intervention final search = (search B) AND (search C)
COMPARISON Toothbrushing with an oscillating–rotating toothbrush	S38	oscillat* N3 rotat*
	S39	Oral B
	S40		Combine S39–S40 with OR (search D)
FINAL COMPARISON SEARCH	S41		Comparison final search = (search B) AND (search D)
FINAL SEARCH	S42		Final search = (Final problem search) AND (Final intervention search) AND (Final comparison search)

The search was adapted for the other databases. MEDLINE: Interdental plaque search terms: MH “Dental plaque”; MH “Dental plaque index”; “dental plaque”; “dental plaque index”; “plaque index”; “dental biofilm”; MH “Biofilms”; biofilms; MH “Dental Deposits”; “Dental deposits”; MH “toothbrushing”; toothbrushing; MH “oral hygiene”; “oral hygiene”; interdental; inter-dental; interproximal; inter-proximal; proximal; approximal. Electric toothbrush search terms: elect* N3 toothbrush*; power* N3 toothbrush*; battery N3 toothbrush*. oscillating toothbrush search terms: oscillat*; sonic; MH “sonication”; sonication; “side-to-side”; MH “Vibration”; vibrat*; Sonicare. Oscillating–rotating toothbrush search terms: oscillat* N3 rotat*; Oral-B. DOSS: Interdental plaque search terms: DE “Dental plaque”; “dental plaque”; “plaque index”; DE ”BIOFILMS”; “dental biofilm”; DE “DENTAL deposits”; “dental deposits”; toothbrushing; DE “ORAL hygiene”; “oral hygiene”; interdental; inter-dental; interproximal; inter-proximal; proximal; approximal. Electric toothbrush search terms: electr* N3 toothbrush*; power* N3 toothbrush*; battery N3 toothbrush*. Oscillating toothbrush search terms: DE “OSCILLATIONS”; oscillat*; sonic; DE “SONICATION”; sonication; DE “VIBRATION (Mechanics)”; vibrat*; Sonicare; “side-to-side”. Oscillating–rotating toothbrush search terms: oscillat* N3 rotat*; Oral-B. Embase: Interdental plaque search terms: tooth plaque/; “tooth plaque”; plaque index/; “plaque index”; “dental plaque”; biofilm/; biofilm; dental deposit/; “dental deposit”; tooth brushing/; toothbrushing; mouth hygiene/; “mouth hygiene”; “oral hygiene”; interdental; inter-dental; interproximal; inter-proximal; proximal; approximal. Electric toothbrush search terms: electr* adj3 toothbrush*; power* adj3 toothbrush*; battery adj3 toothbrush*. Oscillating toothbrush search terms: oscillation/; oscillat*; sonic; Sonication; vibration/; vibrat*; Sonicare; “side-to-side”. Oscillating–rotating toothbrush search terms: oscillat* adj3 rotat*; Oral-B.