Most efficient method motivation for maintenance of oral hygiene in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances

The oral hygiene of orthodontic patients with fixed appliances is known as complex and complicated. It becomes more difficult to keep the teeth clean and maintain high oral hygiene level in the patients with this kind of orthodontic treatment. Orthodontic treatment with fixed appliances increases plaque amount, which can produce one of the problems faced during this treatment such as hyperplastic gingivitis, and sometimes it can be so expressed that it is necessary to stop the treatment or it has to be reduced for some time. If stronger forces are applied, gingival recessions can occur. Besides these gingival changes, the problems faced during this treatment could be listed as decalcifications, white spot lesions and cavity formation. Because of the difficulty and specificity of oral hygiene, these patients need to be educated and motivated for oral hygiene. Every single patient has to be included in receiving oral hygiene education. According to many authors these various educational methods are cold Oral Hygiene Motivation Methods for orthodontic patients with fixed appliances, and it is necessary to determine the most appropriate one. These methods are generally classified as: only verbal information, verbal information with demonstration on model, verbal information with demonstration on model and self application by the patient under the supervision of the clinician and corrections made if necessary, verbal information using the illustration catalog, verbal information using the illustration catalog and self application by the patient under the supervision of the clinician and corrections made if necessary. The choice of the most appropriate motivation method depends on the age of the patient. Most of the authors believe that visual based methods are more appropriate for younger patients, and on the other hand, written and verbal methods are appropriate for older ones. However, verbal method and illustration method with demonstration on model and self application by the patient under the supervision of the clinician and corrections made if necessary are very useful and appropriate for all the patients.