The effect of mobile active reminders on cooperation in orthodontic patients treated with fixed appliances

Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the effects of reminders sent as video/multimedia images (photos simulating the end of treatment) or text messages at certain time intervals on the cooperation of orthodontic patients in terms of Class II intermaxillary elastic use, oral hygiene and incidence of bracket break. In addition, it was aimed to investigate to what extent active reminders contribute to patient cooperation, motivation and treatment success. Material and method: 175 orthodontic patients treated at our university were selected. The patients were divided into three main groups and the groups were examined in three subgroups. Group 1 was determined as oral hygiene, group 2 as bracket rupture incidence, group 3 as class II intermaxillary elastic use. The patients in these groups were examined in three subgroups and divided into the text message group, the video message group, and the control group. Specific messages were sent to the participants twice a week. Oral hygiene was assessed using PI and GI, incidence of bracket break off was recorded at control appointments, and use of class II elastic was evaluated using digital models obtained from 3D intraoral scanners. Kruskal Wallis and One-Way Analysis of Variance, in-group comparisons were examined with Friedman test and differences were compared with Bonferroni test. Results: There was no significant difference between the three subgroups of the group whose oral hygiene was evaluated. There was no significant difference between the three subgroups of the text message group in the group evaluated in terms of bracket break incidence. In the use of Class II intermaxillary elastic, a significant difference was found between T1 and T2 times in the text message group. Conclusion: In our study; 1) Mobile active reminders have no effect on improving oral hygiene. 2) Text message and video message reminders were found to be effective at partial time intervals in the effect of mobile active reminders on class II elastic use. 3) Mobile active reminders have no effect on the incidence of bracket break off. However, when looking at in-group comparisons, it was found that text message reminders were effective at partial time intervals. Keywords: Active reminder, Cooperation, Fixed Orthodontic Treatment