Effectiveness of Smart Applications of Oral Hygiene Instructions on Periodontal Health Compared to Oral Information: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Nowadays, smartphone applications are widely used in different areas of life, including medical science. The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of a smartphone application of oral hygiene instructions (OHI) on periodontal health compared to the traditional chairside OHI. All the participants (n = 39) were divided into two groups: control group and test group. Participants of the control group were given verbal OHI and participants of the test group were asked to use a smartphone application to upkeep their oral habits. The gingival index (GI) and Quigley–Hein Turesky modification index (QHTMI) were used for scoring the plaque accumulation at baseline and after one month of the periodontal treatment. A paired t-test and an independent t-test were performed to compare the mean of GI and QHTMI between intra-group and inter-group, respectively. The paired t-test showed significant differences in GI and QHTMI improvement after one month in both groups. Moreover, the independent t-test showed no significant differences between the two groups. However, the test group showed a lower mean score in GI and QHTMI assessments compared to the control group. Smartphone applications in oral health applications did not exhibit any superiority in periodontal health over the traditional OHI method in the current study.