effect of motivational interviewing on oral and dental health of adolescents with fixed orthodontic appliances

Introduction: orthodontic appliances increase the risk of dental caries and gum disease. sinceit is rather difficult to maintain oral hygiene in patients with fixed orthodontic appliances due tothe presence of brackets, bands, and arch wires, they should be persuaded to take care of their oralcavity. therefore, the present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of an oral and dental healtheducational intervention using motivational interviewing in adolescents with fixed orthodonticappliances.materials and methods: thirty adolescents with fixed orthodontic appliances aged 12-16years presenting to orthodontics departments of school of dentistry, tehran university of medicalsciences, received individual counselling, verbal guidelines, and training for correct brushing andflossing techniques by a senior student of dentistry during a 20-minute motivational interview. toevaluate the effect of the intervention, oral health behaviors including brushing, flossing, and consumptionof sugary snacks were collected in a self-report manner. moreover, plaque and gingivalindexes were measured before and one-month post intervention. the spss software version 23 wasused for data analysis.results: among oral health behaviors, optimal frequency of brushing increased after the intervention(p=0.002). the mean plaque index was 0.99±0.43 before and 0.37±0.16 after the intervention,indicating a significant difference (p<0.001). moreover, the mean gingival index (averageinflammation) was 0.99±0.56 before the intervention, which improved to 0.30±0.20 after the intervention(p<0.001).conclusion: educational intervention based on motivational interviewing reduced dentalplaques and gingival inflammation and increased the frequency of brushing in the short termamong adolescents with fixed orthodontic appliances.