Mobile Application Push Notification in Improving Oral Hygiene Behaviour in Adolescent Orthodontic Patients

Overview

This research looks at whether using a mobile phone app that sends push-notification reminders can help adolescent orthodontic patients keep their teeth and gums cleaner during treatment. When teenagers wear braces, it's easy for food and plaque to get stuck around brackets and wires, which can lead to gingivitis and white spot lesions if oral hygiene isn't maintained. Traditional reminders from dentists often fade over time, so this study tests a more consistent, digital approach. The app sends daily notifications reminding users to brush and care for their teeth. The study will compare three groups: App with push-notification reminders, App without reminders, and Control group with normal instructions only. Researchers will measure changes in plaque and gum health and use a questionnaire to see if the reminders also improve patients' knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) about oral hygiene. In simple terms, the project tests if short smartphone reminders can make orthodontic patients more consistent, informed, and motivated in caring for their teeth.

General objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of push notification oral hygiene reminders on oral hygiene improvement and behavioural changes Specific objectives: To evaluate the oral hygiene improvement using push notification in a mobile phone application To assess the improvement in knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards oral hygiene using push notification reminders in a mobile phone application Study Design This is a 3-arm parallel-group randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the effectiveness of push notification-based oral hygiene reminders on oral hygiene improvement and behavioural changes among orthodontic patients with fixed appliances. Trial setting The will be single centred study conducted in the Postgraduate Orthodontic Clinic, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan Campus. Ethical consideration Ethics approval will be acquired from the IIUM Research Ethics Committee (IREC) before study commencement. This study will also be in line with the CONSORT guidelines. Written informed consent will be obtained from each participant, ensuring full comprehension of study aims, procedures, risks, and benefits. Participants' data confidentiality will be maintained, adhering to the Declaration of Helsinki. Eligibility criteria Inclusion criteria Exclusion criteria Aged 12-18 years Suitable for upper and lower arch fixed appliance treatment Good oral hygiene Able to understand Bahasa Malaysia and/or English Possess a personal or parental smartphone with app access Medically compromised or syndromic patients Need to skip bracket bonding On antibiotics Undergoing periodontal therapy Already using another dental reminder or behavior-change app Patients with cognitive or developmental limitations preventing app use Intervention and comparator Arm 1: Access to the EzGiGi app, and daily behavioural and motivational push notification reminders Arm 2: Access to the EzGiGi app only Arm 3: No digital intervention Conduct of study Eligible patient will be identified through screening during initial pre-orthodontic assessment by the treating orthodontists or postgraduate orthodontic residents, during which relevant records such as a thorough intraoral assessment of dental and gingival health, intraoral and extraoral photographs, study models, and radiographs (dental panoramic radiographs and lateral cephalometric radiographs) are taken. Upon selection, and obtaining informed consent, patient will be allocated to a randomly assigned treatment group. Fixed appliance treatment commences with upper and lower arch bond up using conventional metal brackets and round Nickel Titanium archwires. The patient will be required to complete a KAP questionnaire. Post operative instructions are then given, with the assigned mode of oral health knowledge reminder, according to their allocated group. Patients' follow up visits are every 6 weeks. During these visits, Plaque Index and Gingival Index are also done at 6, 12, 18, 24 weeks. A follow-up KAP questionnaire on the patient's dental health knowledge is also done at 24 weeks. Once the study closes out, the fixed appliance treatment will be continued to completion. Outcomes Primary outcomes Orthodontic Plaque Index The Orthodontic Plaque index is used to assess the amount of dental plaque which accumulates around the bracket and bands of a fixed appliance. The index consists of scoring system as below. Score 0: No plaque visible around bracket. Score 1: Plaque covering less than 1/3 of the bracket area. Score 2: Plaque covering between 1/3 and 2/3 of the bracket area. Score 3: Plaque covering more than 2/3 of the bracket area. Patients will first be asked to chew on a disclosing tablet to identify the plaque clearly. An accumulated score is taken from 6 teeth (16, 11, 25, 36, 31, 45) and then averaged to conclude an overall plaque index value. If any of the teeth mentioned has been extracted, then the adjacent tooth will be used. This step will be done during baseline, week 6, 12, 18 and 24. Gingival Index The Gingival Index is a widely used measurement tool to assess gingival health of patients. Assessment is done based on colour, oedema and bleeding on probing. The index consists of the following scoring system. Score 0: Normal gingiva (no inflammation pink firm). Score 1: Mild inflammation (slight change in color slight edema no bleeding on probing). Score 2: Moderate inflammation (redness edema glazing bleeding on probing). Score 3: Severe inflammation (marked redness edema ulceration spontaneous bleeding). The assessment will be done based on the visual assessment (to assess colour and oedema) and gingival probing using a periodontal probe (to assess spontaneous or delayed bleeding on probing) This step will be done during baseline, week 6, 12, 18 and 24. Secondary outcomes Knowledge, Attitude and Practice questionnaire The KAP Questionnaire on Oral Hygiene and Interdental Cleaning is a validated, bilingual, self-administered questionnaire where questions will be marked (correct or incorrect). Finally, the accumulated percentage will be calculated. This questionnaire will be administered during baseline and at 24 weeks of treatment.