Primary and secondary outcomes
teeth [
Schematic diagram of the tooth
SECONDARY, PLAQUE
In the present study, the GI score was considered as the primary outcome, and the PI score, patients’ compliance score, and satisfaction score of the toothbrushes were examined as the secondary outcomes. The GI and PI scores, following Loe-Silness’s criteria [The GI and PI scores were collected on Ramfjord’ six representative teeth [
Schematic diagram of the tooth surface areas used for the plaque index on the bracket side: (I) incisal, (G) gingival, (M) mesial, and (D) distal(29)The intra-examiner and inter-examiner reliability were evaluated by the intraclass correlation (ICC). The evaluation was done twice within a 4-week interval. For the PI score, the ICC values were 0.948 for the intra-examiner, and 0.799 for the inter-examination agreement. For the GI score, the ICC values were 0.972 for the intra-examiner, and 0.785 for the inter-examination agreement.The patients’ compliance and satisfaction with the toothbrushes were evaluated via a questionnaire. The patients’ compliance scores (score 0–4) were rated as the frequency of toothbrush use; 0 – never, 1 – rarely, 2 -sometimes, 3 – often, and 4 – always. The patients’ satisfaction with each type of toothbrush (score 0–3) were scored as 0 – not satisfied, 1 – slightly satisfied, 2 – moderately satisfied, and 3 – very satisfied.