The effect of an oral hygiene instruction intervention on plaque control by orthodontic patients

Orthodontic therapy is recently becoming more popular. The numerous orthodontic components, however, encourage the accumulation of dental plaque on teeth, increasing the risk of caries and periodontitis. In order to reduce these problems, we designed a study to investigate the effects of an oral hygiene instruction intervention program. Fifty-seven patients with fixed orthodontic appliances were divided randomly into a trial (n=29) and a control group (n=28). Plaque and gingival indices were recorded for each patient. First, a patient's teeth were stained with a disclosing agent. Patients in the trial group underwent oral hygiene instruction immediately after the first recording was completed. The plaque and gingival indices were again recorded on two subsequent visits at intervals of 3 weeks, and intensive oral hygiene instruction was again given to patients in the trial group. In the control group, a patient's teeth were stained, and the plaque and gingival indices were recorded, but no oral hygiene instruction was given to those patients. Paired t-test was used to analyze differences in the plaque and gingival indices between the trial and control groups. We found that both the plaque and gingival index scores were significantly lower during the test period for the trial group than for the control group. We concluded that oral hygiene instruction can lead to the efficient control of dental plaque accumulation in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances.