The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health: a randomized control trial

Mário Rui Araújo; Maria João Alvarez; Cristina A. Godinho

The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health: a randomized control trial

Mário Rui Araújo
, Maria João Alvarez
, Cristina A. Godinho

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using mobile text messages and a novel floss holder as compared to finger flossing or the novel floss holder alone, on the psychological, behavioral, and clinical parameters of patients with gingivitis.Methods: A total 165 adults were assessed for eligibility and 144 met the criteria for randomization into three groups: Finger Floss (FF, n=43), Novel Floss Holder (NFH, n= 40), and Novel Floss Holder plus Text Messages (NFH+TM, n= 61) following a dental hygiene consultation appointment. Gingival bleeding points were measured on probing (BOMP) at baseline and four months later by a calibrated dental hygienist, blinded to the experimental groups. Participants also self-reported their oral hygiene behaviors, and indicated psychological determinants of behavior change prior to the dental hygiene consultation and at four months. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare groups over time.Results: Two subjects dropped out of the study making the total number of participants 142. At the four month follow-up, the NFH group and the NFH+TM groups demonstrated significantly higher levels of self-reported flossing, action self-efficacy, intention, action planning, and action control. The NFH+TM group showed lower levels of bleeding and higher levels of oral hygiene and recovery self-efficacy than the other groups, in addition to higher levels of maintenance self-efficacy as compared to the FF group.Conclusions: The use of a novel floss holder, NFH, was shown to improve the behavioral and psychological determinants of periodontal health four months after introduction of the device. However the clinical measures of BOMP only improved significantly when used in conjunction with text messages (NFH+TM). The use of a consciousness awareness technique,TMs, in combination with a novel device, may help patients to reach therapeutic objectives and contribute to the management of periodontal pathologies such as gingivitis.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	29-38
Number of pages	10
Journal	Journal of dental hygiene : JDH
Volume	94
Issue number	4
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2020

Keywords

Flossing
Gingivitis
Interdental cleaning
Mobile text messages
Oral hygiene
Oral self-care
Patient motivation

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27784657Accepted author manuscript, 352 KBLicence: Unspecified

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/38884Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

@article{289c96396c7e4639988c560fbb1b7224,

title = "The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health: a randomized control trial",

abstract = "Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using mobile text messages and a novel floss holder as compared to finger flossing or the novel floss holder alone, on the psychological, behavioral, and clinical parameters of patients with gingivitis.Methods: A total 165 adults were assessed for eligibility and 144 met the criteria for randomization into three groups: Finger Floss (FF, n=43), Novel Floss Holder (NFH, n= 40), and Novel Floss Holder plus Text Messages (NFH+TM, n= 61) following a dental hygiene consultation appointment. Gingival bleeding points were measured on probing (BOMP) at baseline and four months later by a calibrated dental hygienist, blinded to the experimental groups. Participants also self-reported their oral hygiene behaviors, and indicated psychological determinants of behavior change prior to the dental hygiene consultation and at four months. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare groups over time.Results: Two subjects dropped out of the study making the total number of participants 142. At the four month follow-up, the NFH group and the NFH+TM groups demonstrated significantly higher levels of self-reported flossing, action self-efficacy, intention, action planning, and action control. The NFH+TM group showed lower levels of bleeding and higher levels of oral hygiene and recovery self-efficacy than the other groups, in addition to higher levels of maintenance self-efficacy as compared to the FF group.Conclusions: The use of a novel floss holder, NFH, was shown to improve the behavioral and psychological determinants of periodontal health four months after introduction of the device. However the clinical measures of BOMP only improved significantly when used in conjunction with text messages (NFH+TM). The use of a consciousness awareness technique,TMs, in combination with a novel device, may help patients to reach therapeutic objectives and contribute to the management of periodontal pathologies such as gingivitis.",

keywords = "Flossing, Gingivitis, Interdental cleaning, Mobile text messages, Oral hygiene, Oral self-care, Patient motivation",

author = "Ara{\'u}jo, \{M{\'a}rio Rui\} and Alvarez, \{Maria Jo{\~a}o\} and Godinho, \{Cristina A.\}",

note = "Funding Information: This manuscript supports the NDHRA priority area, Client level: Oral health care (new therapies and prevention modalities).The authors received material support from Oral Wise, Inc.; Calabasas, CA, USA, for the novel floss holder (GumChucks{\texttrademark}) used in this study. This product is not marketed in Portugal. The authors did not receive any financial support for this study. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020, American Dental Hygienists Association. All rights reserved.",

year = "2020",

month = aug,

day = "1",

language = "English",

volume = "94",

pages = "29--38",

journal = "Journal of dental hygiene : JDH",

issn = "1043-254X",

publisher = "American Dental Hygienists Association",

number = "4",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health

T2 - a randomized control trial

AU - Araújo, Mário Rui

AU - Alvarez, Maria João

AU - Godinho, Cristina A.

N1 - Funding Information: This manuscript supports the NDHRA priority area, Client level: Oral health care (new therapies and prevention modalities).The authors received material support from Oral Wise, Inc.; Calabasas, CA, USA, for the novel floss holder (GumChucks™) used in this study. This product is not marketed in Portugal. The authors did not receive any financial support for this study. Publisher Copyright: © 2020, American Dental Hygienists Association. All rights reserved.

PY - 2020/8/1

Y1 - 2020/8/1

N2 - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using mobile text messages and a novel floss holder as compared to finger flossing or the novel floss holder alone, on the psychological, behavioral, and clinical parameters of patients with gingivitis.Methods: A total 165 adults were assessed for eligibility and 144 met the criteria for randomization into three groups: Finger Floss (FF, n=43), Novel Floss Holder (NFH, n= 40), and Novel Floss Holder plus Text Messages (NFH+TM, n= 61) following a dental hygiene consultation appointment. Gingival bleeding points were measured on probing (BOMP) at baseline and four months later by a calibrated dental hygienist, blinded to the experimental groups. Participants also self-reported their oral hygiene behaviors, and indicated psychological determinants of behavior change prior to the dental hygiene consultation and at four months. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare groups over time.Results: Two subjects dropped out of the study making the total number of participants 142. At the four month follow-up, the NFH group and the NFH+TM groups demonstrated significantly higher levels of self-reported flossing, action self-efficacy, intention, action planning, and action control. The NFH+TM group showed lower levels of bleeding and higher levels of oral hygiene and recovery self-efficacy than the other groups, in addition to higher levels of maintenance self-efficacy as compared to the FF group.Conclusions: The use of a novel floss holder, NFH, was shown to improve the behavioral and psychological determinants of periodontal health four months after introduction of the device. However the clinical measures of BOMP only improved significantly when used in conjunction with text messages (NFH+TM). The use of a consciousness awareness technique,TMs, in combination with a novel device, may help patients to reach therapeutic objectives and contribute to the management of periodontal pathologies such as gingivitis.

AB - Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of using mobile text messages and a novel floss holder as compared to finger flossing or the novel floss holder alone, on the psychological, behavioral, and clinical parameters of patients with gingivitis.Methods: A total 165 adults were assessed for eligibility and 144 met the criteria for randomization into three groups: Finger Floss (FF, n=43), Novel Floss Holder (NFH, n= 40), and Novel Floss Holder plus Text Messages (NFH+TM, n= 61) following a dental hygiene consultation appointment. Gingival bleeding points were measured on probing (BOMP) at baseline and four months later by a calibrated dental hygienist, blinded to the experimental groups. Participants also self-reported their oral hygiene behaviors, and indicated psychological determinants of behavior change prior to the dental hygiene consultation and at four months. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to compare groups over time.Results: Two subjects dropped out of the study making the total number of participants 142. At the four month follow-up, the NFH group and the NFH+TM groups demonstrated significantly higher levels of self-reported flossing, action self-efficacy, intention, action planning, and action control. The NFH+TM group showed lower levels of bleeding and higher levels of oral hygiene and recovery self-efficacy than the other groups, in addition to higher levels of maintenance self-efficacy as compared to the FF group.Conclusions: The use of a novel floss holder, NFH, was shown to improve the behavioral and psychological determinants of periodontal health four months after introduction of the device. However the clinical measures of BOMP only improved significantly when used in conjunction with text messages (NFH+TM). The use of a consciousness awareness technique,TMs, in combination with a novel device, may help patients to reach therapeutic objectives and contribute to the management of periodontal pathologies such as gingivitis.

KW - Flossing

KW - Gingivitis

KW - Interdental cleaning

KW - Mobile text messages

KW - Oral hygiene

KW - Oral self-care

KW - Patient motivation

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85089131908

M3 - Article

C2 - 32753522

AN - SCOPUS:85089131908

SN - 1043-254X

VL - 94

SP - 29

EP - 38

JO - Journal of dental hygiene : JDH

JF - Journal of dental hygiene : JDH

IS - 4

ER -

The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health: a randomized control trial

Abstract

Keywords

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Eating better, feeling good: development and evaluation of an online intervention to promote healthy eating

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The effect of mobile text messages and a novel floss holder on gingival health: a randomized control trial

Abstract

Keywords

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Eating better, feeling good: development and evaluation of an online intervention to promote healthy eating

CRC-W: Católica Research Centre for Psychological, Family and Social Wellbeing

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