Objectives To compare the effectiveness of metronidazole gel and mobile telephone short-message service (SMS) reminders on gingivitis in patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment. Materials and Methods The trial was double blinded (patient and investigator), and only the clinical trial unit pharmacist was unblinded. Data were collected from patients undergoing fixed orthodontic treatment for at least 6 months. A total of 66 patients were randomly assigned to either 0.8% metronidazole gel (n = 22), SMS reminder and placebo gel (n = 22), or placebo (control) group only (n = 22). Gingival index (GI), bleeding index (BI), and orthodontic plaque index (OPI) were evaluated on several teeth at baseline (T0) and after 4 weeks (T1). Paired-sample t-tests were used to compare mean differences of indexes at T0 and T1 in the groups, and independent-sample t-tests were used to determine the effects of interventions compared with the controls. Results Data from 64 patients were analyzed; there were 2 dropouts. There were statistically significant (P < .05) reductions in GI, BI, and OPI scores from T0 to T1 for each intervention. However, there were no significant differences between each intervention and the control group. There were no adverse effects. Conclusions The null hypothesis could not be rejected. There is no difference between interventions (application of 0.8% metronidazole gel and SMS reminder for reinforcing oral hygiene) in reducing gingival inflammation in orthodontic patients.
Objectives: Smile is a universal phenomenon, the effect of which is not discovered on the lower anterior facial height (LAFH). The objective of this study was to determine the influence of smile on different LAFH in frontal view as assessed by different panels of raters using visual analog scale (VAS) in a female subject. Material and Methods: The frontal photographs (at rest and on smile) were taken at natural head position of a female subject aged 28 years old after taking informed consent. LAFH of the photographs was modified using a Photoshop software (Adobe Systems, San Jose, Calif.). Sixty raters equally divided into orthodontic residents, general dentists, and laypersons were given a VAS to make subjective assessments of facial attractiveness of the modified photographs. Comparison of raters’ scores was done using Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U-tests. Wilcoxon Signed-Rank test was used to compare the esthetic scores of the subject at rest and with smile. Results: The mean age of the all raters was comparable (early adulthood). All raters preferred normal or slightly shorter LAFH in both postures, that is, at smile and rest. Similarly, all raters disliked long face modifications. On comparing smile and rest photographs at various LAFH, we found less VAS scores for smile. Gender of raters played no role in difference of VAS scores. Conclusion: All the panels of rater found normal LAFH to be the most attractive; however, the panels disliked long face modifications on both smile and at rest. Smile had no positive influence on the VAS scores as assumed so the effect of “Smiloflage” must be investigated further to understand it properly.
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