Comparative Evaluation of Perception of Pain Associated With Orthodontic Separators with and Without Use of Vibratory Powered Toothbrush : A Split Mouth Randomized Clinical Study

Abstract

Background : To compare and evaluate perception of pain associated with orthodontic separators with and without use of vibratory powered tooth brush. Study Design: Thirty patients aged 14-25 years, who had to undergo fixed mechanotherapy, were included in this split mouth randomized clinical study. Separators were placed mesial and distal to first molars on all quadrants. After randomizing test and control side, patients were asked to use the powered vibratory toothbrush (10 min; 5 min on buccal and 5 min on palatal/ lingual) immediately after the separator placement and at every 8-h intervals for a week. The pain perceived at 2 hours, 6 hours & bedtime on Days 1, 2, 3 and Day 7 were recorded by marking on 0-10 VAS pain rating scale. Paired t test and Posthoc Bonferroni test were used for statistical analysis. Results: There were significant differences between the pain scores of the test and control side groups at all-time intervals except Day 7 (p < .001). Conclusion: Vibratory powered toothbrush can be used as non-invasive and non-pharmacological method for pain reduction following placement of orthodontic separators.