Effects of Reinforced Oral Hygiene Instruction Program With and Without Professional Tooth Cleaning on Plaque Control and Gingival Health of Orthodontic Patients Wearing Multibracket Appliances

Abstract

Introduction: Fixed orthodontic therapy is considered to be one of the important risk factor for plaque accumulation, since various orthodontic components serves as the retentive areas for plaque accumulation and thus increasing the risk of caries and periodontitis. Therefore these patients must be encouraged to maintain good oral health throughout the treatment. Objective: To investigate the effects of reinforced oral hygiene instruction programme with and without professional tooth cleaning on the plaque accumulation and gingival health of orthodontic patients wearing fixed multibracket appliances. Material and Methods: Forty patients with fixed orthodontic appliances in the age range of 12–28 years were divided randomly into Group I (n=20) and Group II (n=20). Group I received oral hygiene instructions and Group II received similar instructions supplemented with one sitting of professional tooth cleaning. The plaque and gingival index were recorded at the baseline (before the instructions), after 4 and 8 weeks in both the groups. At each visit all the instructions were reinforced in both the groups. Results: Intergroup comparison showed significant decrease in the mean plaque score at 4 weeks in Group II (p<0.01), but no significant difference in the mean plaque score at 8 weeks and mean gingival scores at 4 and 8 weeks between both the groups. Within the group comparison, showed that the mean values of both the indices showed significant decrease after 8 weeks in both the groups (p<0.01). Conclusion: Reinforced oral hygiene instruction programme with or without professional prophylaxis can lead to efficient control of plaque accumulation as well as improvement in the gingival health of orthodontic patients wearing multibracket appliances. However, provision of professional tooth cleaning should be based on individual plaque control needs.