Perception and practice of patients with fixed orthodontic appliance regarding oral health: A cross-sectional study in Yazd, Iran

Introduction: Good oral hygiene is the key factor required for uninterrupted orthodontic treatment and can be improved by professional supervision. Aims: : To report perception and practice of patients with fixed orthodontic appliance about oral health in Yazd, Iran. Materials: and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 201 patients were selected by simple sampling method. A valid, reliable, researcher-made questionnaire with four parts was used: the first part contains demographic information of patients, the second part contained 7 questions about knowledge and the third part contained 7 attitudinal questions and the last part had 8 practical questions regarding oral health. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 software, T-test and ANOVA. The level of significance in this study was considered less than 0.05. Results: : Out of 201 patients, 74 (36.8%) were men and 127 (63.2%) were women. 19.65 ± 6.03 with an age range of 10-37 years. The participants had a moderate knowledge and poor practice. No significant association was observed between the knowledge OR practice of patients with gender, age, education and duration of treatment (P-value>0.05). Conclusion: It is suggested to adopt educational interventions in order to improve patients’ knowledge and practice about oral hygiene. Some individual attitudes such as considering orthodontic treatment during pregnancy as safe and the possibility of orthodontic treatment in adulthood, need to be corrected.