Orthodontists’ instructions for oral hygiene in patients with removable and fixed orthodontic appliances
Date issued
Editors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
License
Abstract
Introduction
The aim of this questionnaire-based survey was to evaluate information on frequencies, instructions and products relating to oral hygiene (OH) in orthodontic practices.
Methods
Using a computer-generated randomization list, 1000 orthodontists were selected and sent a questionnaire. The size and number of inhabitants of the federal states of Germany were considered. The federal states with the highest return rate (Baden-Wuerttemberg [BW], Bavaria [B], Hesse [H], Lower Saxony [LS], Nordrhein-Westphalia [NRW]) were considered and differences between the 16 federal states were divided into North, South, East and Central Germany.
Results
The response rate of the questionnaires was 52.4%. The majority (53.8%) worked in one practice alone. Most (59.1%) have been orthodontists for 5–25 years. For vestibular multibracket appliances (MBA) in BW, B, H and LS over 90% recommended interdental brushes (IDB). In NRW 91.4% recommend fluoride gel. In B and H more than 80% chose electric toothbrush (ETB), in BW, LS and NRW more than 80% manual toothbrush (MTB). For lingual MBA (LMBA) in BW, H, LS and NRW with approximately 50% each fluoride gel, IDB and MTB were chosen. In B fluoride gel, IDB and ETB. For removable apparatus (RA), five federal states recommended MTB (>80%) and ETB (BW, B, H > 80%; NRW > 70%; LS > 60%).
Conclusion
Electric toothbrushes are recommended for the use with all appliances, only with removable appliances manual toothbrushes are favoured. For vestibular MBA it is strongly advised to use IDB additionally.
Description
Keywords
Citation
Published in
International journal of dental hygiene, Version of Record (VoR), Wiley, Weinheim, 2023, https://doi.org/10.1111/idh.12763