Abstract
Objective: To determine if text messaging reminders regarding intra oral elastic wear have any influence on the level of compliance in an orthodontic population. Materials & Methods: Eighty orthodontic patients were considered out of which 40 patients (20 Males & 20 Females) were assigned to a text message group (Study Group) & 40 patients (20 Males & 20 Females) were assigned to a Non-text message group (Control group), who did not receive a reminder text message. Message was sent once daily for a period of one month. The participants were given a fixed number of elastics (60 per patient) at the start of the study and were asked to collect used elastics for the period of one month and counts of these were used to assess compliance. Results: Compliance with elastic wear had significant difference among patients. Female patients proved to be more compliant compared to males in both the groups. The study group returned more number of used elastics than the control group, suggesting increased compliance. Conclusion: A text message reminder system explaining the importance of wearing Intra-oral elastics sent to patients once daily is an effective way to improve compliance in orthodontic patients.
Highlights
Amongst various orthodontic advances between the early 1800s and 1890, the major advancement was of elastics by Dr Edward Maynard in 1843 [1]
It reveals that the average number of elastics received is significantly higher in males in SMS group compared to males in Non-SMS group and the average number of elastics received is significantly higher in females in SMS group when compared to the females in Non-SMS group
The results of this study suggest that a text message reminder improves elastic wear compliance; it is possible that its effectiveness was caused by the extra attention provided to the text message group
Summary
Amongst various orthodontic advances between the early 1800s and 1890, the major advancement was of elastics by Dr Edward Maynard in 1843 [1]. He was the first dentist to use gum elastics as a technique to correct improper jaw relationships. Elastics when hooked to the brackets, apply tensions in directions, which cannot be achieved with brackets and wires alone. They apply constant and steady pressure to align the teeth and guide them into proper occlusion. Egolf et al reported that compliance with elastics and headgear, as assessed by the clinician and by patient, self-report was correlated with psychological characteristics [4]. A few studies till date have investigated the factors predicting compliance with elastic wear or tested interventions to improve patient compliance [3,4]
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