A comparison of three different modalities in improving oral hygiene in adult orthodontic patients – An open label randomized controlled trial

Introduction: The objective of the study was to compare outcomes in terms of Bleeding index (BI), Gingival Index (GI) and Orthodontic Plaque Index (OPI) with videographic and plaque disclosing tablets (PDT) versus verbal instructions in adult orthodontic patients undergoing fixed appliance treatment (FAT). Materials and methods: Adult orthodontic patients were recruited form outpatient orthodontic clinic who fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were randomly allocated to three groups i.e., video, PDT and verbal groups: Subjects who had gingivitis as assessed by the Bleeding Index (BI), Gingival Index (GI) and Orthodontic Plaque Index (OPI) were recruited. Pre- and post-interventional measurements were taken at two intervals only for BI, GI and OPI. The primary outcome was to evaluate mean change in the BI, GI and OPI in the three study groups after six weeks. A computer-generated randomization list was used to allocate subjects to one of the three study groups using a random permuted block sampling of 6 and 9 to randomize the samples. Results: A total of 99 subjects were assessed for eligibility out of which 96 participants were randomized as three of the participants declined to be part of this trial. The mean change in the oral hygiene indices score were assessed and we found no statistically significant difference among the three interventional groups. Pre- and postinterventional results showed statistically significant improvement in the oral hygiene indices for video and PDT group. No statistically significant difference for age, gender and education level on oral hygiene indices. Simple linear regression showed that video group produced significantly higher mean OPI change as compared to other groups. Conclusions: Visual aids performed better than verbal instructions. Gender, age, and education level did not have a statistically significant impact on oral hygiene indices.