Impact of dental neglect score on oral health among patients receiving fixed orthodontic treatment: A cross-sectional study.
OBJECTIVE
Maintenance of meticulous oral health practices is critical for patients who are under orthodontic treatment as failure to do so can result in deterioration of periodontal health. Thus, the present study was commenced to assess dental negligence and oral health status among patients undergoing orthodontic treatment using dental neglect scale (DNS) questionnaire.


METHODS
The present cross-sectional study was planned and carried out among the 40 patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. The study comprised of two questionnaires, one was close-ended questionnaire which consisted of questions regarding patient practice in maintenance of oral health and other questionnaire comprised of DNS followed by examination of oral hygiene status using Oral Hygiene Index Simplified. Data so obtained were subjected to analysis using SPSS version 20 and Chi-square test was used to statistically analyze data with P < 0.05 regarded as a statistically significant value.


RESULTS
The present study revealed that 63% among the studied orthodontic patients brushed once daily, 26% brushed twice daily, and 11% brushed thrice. About one-fourth was using brush with soft bristles and only 9% among the respondents used interdental aids. Data revealed positive correlation between DNS and oral hygiene index-simplified score with P < 0.05.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study found that less frequency of brushing, rinsing mouth, and eating sticky and hard food can be attributed to self-neglect of the orthodontic patients.
Department of Periodontology, Vananchal Dental College and Hospital, Garhwa, Jharkhand, India.
Vijayendra
V
Pandey
Department of Orthodontics, Buddha Institute of Dental Sciences and Hospital, Patna, Bihar, India.
Subhash
S
Chandra
Department of Orthodontics, Vananchal Dental College and Hospital, Garhwa, Jharkhand, India.
H P
HP
Dilip Kumar
Department of Orthodontics, Vyas Dental College and Hospital, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India.
Ashish
A
Gupta
Deprtment of Oral Surgery, PDM Dental College and Research Institute, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, India.
Poonam Preet
PP
Bhandari
Deprtment of Oral Surgery, PDM Dental College and Research Institute, Bahadurgarh, Haryana, India.
Pankaj
P
Rathod
Brushing; dental neglect; fixed orthodontic treatment; interdental aids; self-negligence