Effectiveness of different oral hygiene education methods in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances

Achieving good oral hygiene for orthodontic patients is the most important part of the treatment. Fixed orthodontic appliances complicate brushing and create suitable enviroment for plaque accumulation. Taking into consideration the long treatment durations, orthodontic patients should be given good oral hygiene instructions and motivation before onset of the treatment. The aim of this study is to compare different oral hygiene motivation methods in orthodontic patients. Our study was performed on patients starting orthodontic treatment. Patients were divided into three groups according to the method of receiving oral hygiene education; the first group was instructed by watching movies, the second group was trained simulating the procedures on the orthodontic typodont model and the third group received oral hygiene education by verbal explanation. To evaulate brushing efficiency periodontal measurements were recorded before bonding prosedure, after 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks. Recorded periodontal measurements are the plaque index, the gingival index, the bleeding on probing index and the pocket depth. All the periodontal index measuments increased in all test groups from the first to the 12th week's measurements. First and last measurement values of the plaque index, gingival index, bleeding on probing index and pocket depth were found statistically significant (p<0,001). Evaluation between groups revealed that the plaque index (p=0,053) and the pocket depth values (p=0,011) were higher in patients whose oral hygiene education was given with orthodontic typodont model compared to those of the patients who watched movies.