EFFECTIVENESS OF TEXT MESSAGE INSTRUCTIONS ON ORAL HYGIENE FOR ORTHODONTIC PATIENTS

Abstract

Background: Several studies have recently demonstrated that active communication to explain the importance of oral hygiene can improve the oral health of orthodontic patients. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a structured text message communication on orthodontic patient’s oral hygiene compliance for tooth brushing, plaque control and gingival health. This Ran-domized clinical trial was conducted on 100 patients of both sex with age range between 15-25 years recruited from orthodontics department de,Montmorency College of Dentistry, Lahore. All participants were undergoing fixed orthodontic appliance therapy. Participants were randomized in to text message and control group. Pre, during and post-trial examinations were carried out by author her-self using blind and calibrated methodology using plaque, bleeding and modified gingival indices. Results showed that text message group expressed a statistically significant (P<0.001) decrease in Bleeding Index score, Plaque Index score and Modified Gingival Index score from 0-60 days as compared to control group. This was concluded that text message reminder system is effective for improving oral hygiene compliance in orthodontic patients. Bleeding Index, Plaque Index and Modified Gingival Index scores were significantly lower in the text message group than control group. There is a need of clinical trial with longer duration on large number of subjects in the age range of 15–40.