Title Dental Water Jets Are More Effective For Plaque Control In Adolescent Orthodontic Patients Than Manual Brushing And Flossing
Clinical Question Are oral irrigators more effective than manual tooth brushing and flossing in reducing plaque in adolescent orthodontic patients?
Clinical Bottom Line Oral irrigators were shown to reduce plaque more effectively than using floss/manual toothbrush in combination and manual toothbrush alone in adolescent orthodontic patients.
Best Evidence  
PubMed ID Author / Year Patient Group Study type
(level of evidence)
18405821Sharma/2008105 adolescents ages 11-17 currently in orthodontic treatment with full-mouth brackets and archwiresRCT-single blind, parallel groups
Key resultsWhile all three treatment groups showed statistically significant reductions in plaque index (P<.001), the dental water jet (DWJ) was statistically more effective at reducing whole-mouth and interproximal plaque at both 2 and 4 weeks than the floss (FL) and manual toothbrush (MT) methods (P<.001). The change (%) in whole-mouth PI scores at 4 weeks were 38.9 (DWJ), 10.3 (FL), and 6.7 (MT), and 36.2 (DWJ), 9.9 (FL), and 6.5 (MT) for inter-proximal plaque index scores at 4 weeks.
Evidence Search ("Orthodontics"[Mesh] AND "Dental Devices, Home Care"[Mesh]) AND "Dental Plaque"[Mesh]
Comments on
The Evidence
The design had a representative patient sample with similar groups at baseline, and the examiners were blinded to patients’ group assignment. Follow-up time was sufficient for evaluating short-term results on plaque reduction, but the authors stated a need for longer duration to evaluate compliance with the hygiene instructions.
Applicability The evidence of increased plaque reduction using oral irrigators in this representative study population can be applied to most adolescent orthodontic patients. The defining factor will be individual long-term compliance with the hygiene regimen.
Specialty (General Dentistry) (Orthodontics) (Pediatric Dentistry) (Periodontics) (Dental Hygiene)
Keywords Oral irrigator, plaque reduction, orthodontics
ID# 2175
Date of submission 03/19/2012
E-mail johnsonkn@livemail.uthscsa.edu
Author Kristi Johnson
Co-author(s)
Co-author(s) e-mail
Faculty mentor Jo Ann D. Jordan, BS
Faculty mentor e-mail jordanj@uthscsa.edu
   
Basic Science Rationale
(Mechanisms that may account for and/or explain the clinical question, i.e. is the answer to the clinical question consistent with basic biological, physical and/or behavioral science principles, laws and research?)
None available
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Comments and Evidence-Based Updates on the CAT
(FOR PRACTICING DENTISTS', FACULTY, RESIDENTS and/or STUDENTS COMMENTS ON PUBLISHED CATs)
by Priscilla Barajas and Mark Marbach (San Antonio, TX) on 11/30/2017
I conducted a PubMed search on this topic in November 2017 and did not find a more recent study on this topic. The article used by the CAT is the highest level of evidence currently available.