Keep it simple

02 November 2012
Volume 28 · Issue 10

Deborah Lyle describes the easiest way to maintain oral health during orthodontic treatment.

With modern day orthodontic technology dentists are able to dramatically improve the appearance, position and function of crooked or abnormally arranged teeth. This can have a great many positive implications for patients.

But while modern orthodontics offer patients many positives, the actual orthodontic appliances used in treating misaligned teeth can potentially have a significant impact on patients’ oral health. This is because orthodontic appliances can prove difficult for some patients to clean effectively. Oral hygiene becomes compromised and this can lead to patients developing serious oral health problems such as gingivitis and periodontal disease.

In order to maintain good oral health throughout their orthodontic treatment, patients should commit to a lengthier and far more comprehensive oral hygiene programme. Orthodontic appliances are delicate devices that require more care and attention to be cleaned around, calling for a combination of optimum oral hygiene tools and technique.

To meet the growing demand in this area, there are now many different oral hygiene products available to orthodontic patients seeking to improve their oral health.

Water flossers, also known as oral irrigators or dental water jets, have been around for over half a century now, and there have been a great many scientific studies to support their use. Evidence suggests for example that the most effective water flossers significantly reduce plaque biofilm from tooth surfaces. Studies also suggest that the best water flossers are twice as effective as string floss for reducing gingival bleeding. In addition, such water flossers have been shown to reduce gingivitis, bleeding, probing pocket depth, host inflammatory mediators and calculus. A recent study by Sharma et al has shown that using a quality water flosser (with an orthodontic tip) alongside brushing is three times more effective at plaque removal than brushing and flossing. The use of a water flosser in these instances is up to five times more effective at plaque removal for patients with orthodontic appliances when compared to brushing alone.

A high quality water flosser is a good choice for any patient but is particularly useful for a patient with an orthodontic appliance as maintaining good oral health during orthodontic treatment can prove particularly difficult.

With so many different oral hygiene products on the market these days it can often be difficult for patients to distinguish between them. For optimum oral hygiene, clinicians should recommend brands and products that are supported by scientific, evidence-based reports. For orthodontic patients especially, water flossers can provide real and very noticeable benefits to long-term oral health.