Preventive
Soumya Immella, DMD (she/her/hers)
Pediatric Dental Resident
NYU Langone Dental Medicine
NYU Langone Dental Medicine
Columbia, Missouri, United States
Shreekrishna Akilesh, DMD, MPH
NYU Langone
Sujatha S. Sivaraman, BDS,DMD, MPH
Associate Program Director
NYU Langone Hospitals
Columbia, Missouri, United States
Sujatha S. Sivaraman, BDS,DMD, MPH
Associate Program Director
NYU Langone Hospitals
Columbia, Missouri, United States
Daniel J. Kane, DMD, MA
Program Director
NYU Langone Hospitals
Brooklyn, New York, United States
Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine if plaque disclosing agents lead to improvement in oral hygiene by acting as visual enforcement.
Methods: This is a randomized clinical trial that used a disclosing agent as a tool to demonstrate plaque accumulation on children, ages 6-16, who came in for their periodic appointments at Compass Pediatric Dental Clinic. A pre-survey was given before the disclosing agent was placed. After the disclosing agent was applied, the patient and caregiver were both shown the areas of plaque accumulation with a hand held mirror. A post-survey was given to assess if there was any self realization in improvement of oral hygiene.
Results: A total of 50 children (Mean age (SD)=9.38(2.92) were enrolled and randomized at their periodic appointment that met the inclusion criteria. No caries were observed in 56% of children. In the pre-survey, 94% of children thought they brushed well, on average children brushed 1.37 times per day, for 1.56 minutes per day, and flossed 0.50 times per day. In the post-survey only 46% thought they brushed well, however there was a significant increase in the frequency of brushing to 2.36 times per day (P < .0001), increased duration to 2.12 minutes (P=.0001), and frequency of flossing increased to 1.41/day (P < .0001).
Conclusions: Using a disclosing agent enabled children to see where to improve their oral hygiene. There is a significant increase in realization of the need for improvement in oral hygiene behavior after using disclosing agent as a visual aid.