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July 2022

Health

The Effect Of Orthodontic Intervention On Mental Health And Body Image

Through the years, the early orthodontic intervention has been established to affect our mental health and body image. If you have gone through the same, you can relate to it. There are multiple scientific pieces of evidence to back this up. In this post, we will talk about the impact of orthodontic intervention at an early age on a child’s mental health. So, without further delay, let’s start.

Before going through the technicalities, let me first discuss an orthodontic intervention.   

What Is An Orthodontic Intervention?

We as a human got two sets of teeth in our lifetime. Though dentists prefer not to intervene with a child’s teeth before a certain age, children often need medical help. This medical or dental intervention is called an Orthodontic Intervention.

While this method has its benefits, we often tend to forget the psychological part of it. Orthodontic interventions such as metal braces are quite common nowadays. Does this make them awkward? Let’s find out in this post.

Why Is Mental Health Important?

Do you know, according to the World Health Organization, mental health is one of the major problems that exist in the world right now. We have been taking care of our physical health for years. However, we raise some concerns about mental health. We haven’t taken enough steps forward.

When a child goes through early dental invention, he probably feels something. Often this feeling is not very positive. They can be extra conscious about their looks and shapes.

If we want to make some positive moves in curing mental health problems, we need to address the problem first. Only then it is possible to cure this giant disease.

Study On The Effect Of The Orthodontic Intervention On Mental Health

Fortunately, concerned people are there. Scientists and doctors have conducted multiple studies on the effect of orthodontic intervention on our mental health. These studies include several samples undergoing orthodontic intervention at an early age.

Their experience before and after can be gauged using Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire, commonly known as GHQ and Multidimensional Body-Self Relations Questionnaire, popularly known as  MBSRQ.

Dentists who also offer orthodontic treatments have their input to the study. The result has come out. According to these studies, some children have gained confidence while others have lost it. You must be wondering, why is that? The orthodontic intervention has a direct impact on the way we look.

When we think our face is near to its perfect look, we tend to be more confident. When the difference between our ideal face and our present face is bigger, we tend to lose confidence and become very aware of that.

How Do We Cope With The Psychological Effects?

Adults can react to this problem differently from a child. Usually, when an adult goes through dental interventions, although they listen to some casual teasing, most people try to avoid them as much as possible. This is the right approach to dealing with these problems.

For children, the effects can be different. A child’s mind is tender; they are more likely to get affected by the slightest change. Modern dental treatments have gone several changes in recent years. Dentists are more concerned about children’s comfort and mental health.

We have discussed orthodontic intervention’s effect on mental health and body image. To learn more, you should consult an experienced person in this field.

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Health

Oral Hygiene Devices Reducing Plaque in Periodontitis Patients

According to a newly published study conducted by Filippo Graziani, Professor of Periodontology at the Unit of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, University of Pisa, Italy, shows that to achieve the highest standard of interdental cleaning, interdental brushes or rubber interdental picks are the most effective dental devices.

The research equated the effectiveness of four oral hygiene devices for reducing plaque and inflammation in periodontitis patients. And as stated before, rubber interdental picks and interdental brushes were found more effective than toothbrushing alone and toothbrushing combined with the use of dental floss. Dentists know the links between oral hygiene and periodontal disease; thus, this study will greatly help dentists and patients suffering from plaque.

Analysis of the Study

The research study is available in the International Journal of Dental Hygiene. The research has explained significant implications for all dental patients with periodontitis, a destructive inflammatory disease that affects the tooth’s supporting tissues and causes tooth loss. Almost 30% of the overall adult population worldwide over 50 years are affected by periodontitis.

The study demonstrated that with the use of a toothbrush only or with the further use of interdental devices, one could reduce the levels of plaque and gingival inflammation. Though when compared with the use of toothbrushes only or in combination with dental floss, advantages were seen in the decrease of plaque and swelling when both rubber picks and interdental brushes were used.

The study was conducted by clinicians and researchers from the Department of Surgical Medical and Molecular Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, University of Pisa, Italy. Specifically at the Sub-Unit of Periodontology, Halitosis, and Periodontol Medicine. The interdental rubbers picks were offered by another international oral healthcare company, Sunstar.

Martijin Verhulst, medical liaison manager at Sunstar, added, “We very much welcome the specific focus on periodontitis patients in this study. So far, evidence of the efficacy of different interdental cleaning tools has been quite conflicting for this population, and for rubber, interdental picks are even absent, so these results will help clinicians by guiding their daily work.”

All the participant patients for the study were allocated into four different groups of 15 people each. They were

  • Manual toothbrush (TB)
  • Toothbrush plus dental floss group (TB/F)
  • Toothbrush brushes group (TB/IDB)
  • Toothbrush plus rubber interdental picks (TB/RIDB)

Of course, credit must be given to online exposure to the dental industry. Eventually, medical devices are increasingly visible due to digital marketing, and people are getting to know different types of devices that offer the best results to the clients.

Plaque and bleeding indexes were taken at different time points, and only a single calibrated examiner was unaware of the group allocation. The conclusions validate the present periodontic dealing commendations and have crucial implications for daily practice, as suggested by Filippo Graziani.

He concluded that “Interdental cleaning is a crucial factor in maintaining periodontal health during and after treatment in patients affected by periodontitis. Our study shows that to achieve the highest standard of interdental cleaning, interdental brushes or rubber interdental picks are the most effective devices.”

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