Abstract:

Purpose: Various oral hygiene motivation methods were proposed to prevent periodontal diseases and caries before and during the orthodontic therapy. In this study, it was aimed to compare the effects of two different oral hygiene motivation methods on halitosis level in patients treated by fixed orthodontic therapy. Materials and Methods: Forty subjects (21 male, 19 female) were included in this study. The subjects were divided into two groups as verbal (V) and demonstration with models and application under clinician’s guidance (M). The gingival index (GI), plaque index (PI), percentage of bleeding sites (%BOP) and halitosis levels were recorded at baseline and 1 month after the orthodontic therapy began. The comparisons between the groups were analyzed by using Mann Whitney U test and intra-group differences were determined by using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test. The correlations were investigated by using the Spearman correlation test. Results: Baseline values of the recorded parameters were not found to be different significantly between the groups (P>0.05). All of the parameters in the V group have decreased significantly after 1 month (P<0.025). The M group has not presented significant difference between the time interval (P>0.025). Except the halitosis values, the decrease amount of the clinical parameters were different significantly between the groups (P<0.05). The correlations between GI and PI, and GI and % BOP; and between PI and %BOP in the M group were found statistically significant (P<0.05). Conclusion: The oral hygiene motivation methods used in the present study were not found significantly different from each other, in terms of the halitosis levels. However, the decrease in the clinical parameters has marked the critical importance of the oral hygiene motivation for the patients undergoing fixed orthodontic therapy.

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