A New Digital Communication Tool Between Dentist and Orthodontist to Improve Dental Prevention

Plain-language summary

Dentists and orthodontists of the oral medicine department of Reims University Hospital noted that many children presented white spots around orthodontic brackets, or decays at the end of their multi-brackets orthodontic treatment. These defects required dental cares and sometimes led to dental avulsions. These situations highlighted a poor oral hygiene of children (poorly done or insufficient dental brushing), a lack of oral prevention of their dentist and/or orthodontist, or even a lack of communication between these two practitioners. The objective of this study is to evaluate if a regular prevention and a specific communication between dentist and orthodontists could reduce the individual caries-risk of patients with multi-brackets orthodontic treatment. During all the orthodontic treatment, a semi-annual oral prevention consultation will be established for each patient, and a digital communication tool will be made available to dentists and orthodontists to facilitate their exchanges. The study population consists of children under 18 years-old when laying multi-brackets orthodontic treatment. The study population consists of children aged 8 to 18 years-old (at the start of treatment) treated with multi-brackets orthodontic treatment. The study population is divided in two groups: (i) a control group corresponding to children not benefiting from regular oral preventive follow up monitoring and completing their orthodontic treatment during the year in 2024; (ii) a study group composed of children starting their orthodontic treatment during the year in 2024 and benefiting from regular oral prevention every 6 months, up to four years. Several parameters will be evaluated from patient medical records: the caries index, the ICDAS score, the plaque index, the oral hygiene and food habits. Concerning the study group, a new digital communication tool will be made available to the dentist and the orthodontist to monitor the oral hygiene of patients. An evaluation of the oral hygiene will be done every 6 months. The expected outcomes of this study concern the interest of (i) a bi-annual prevention consultation to reduce caries risk, (ii) a regular communication between practitioners to adjust the orthodontic treatment according to the individual caries-risk. The expected hypothesis is to decrease the patient's caries and plaque indexes in the study group.

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