Methods
incisors, caries, orthodontic, teeth or teeth, FMR, lateral incisors
CARIES
The trial was performed with 270 adolescent orthodontic patients. Randomization was performed in blocks of 30, enrolling the patients into one of the following groups: the fluoride mouth rinse (FMR) group receiving 0.2% sodium fluoride (NaF) mouth rinse plus 1450 ppm fluoride (F) toothpaste; high-fluoride toothpaste (HFT) group receiving 5000 ppm F toothpaste; and the Control (CTR) group receiving 1450 ppm F toothpaste. Inclusion criteria were patients scheduled for treatment in both arches with fixed appliances and age between 12 and 20 years. The primary outcome variable was the proportion of participants with at least one new demineralized lesion as assessed on digital photos taken before and after treatment, analysed by a blinded clinician. The analysis included all teeth or teeth in the aesthetic zone, i.e. all central incisors, lateral incisors, and canines. A random sample of 30 participants was assessed to check intra- and inter-reliability. For pairwise comparison between groups, Fisher’s non-parametric permutation test was used for continuous variables. Blinding was employed during the caries registration and data analysis.