The effect of text message-based health guidelines reinforcement on clinical outcomes following non-surgical periodontal therapy: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: Periodontitis and gingivitis are two prevalent periodontal diseases caused by oral dysbiosis, which is mostly caused by the presence of tooth plaque. In periodontology, motivational interviewing (MI) is a patient-centered communication strategy that has been shown to improve patient motivation. The Short Message Service (SMS), in particular, has had enormous impacts on healthcare. The purpose of this study is to investigate how text message-based health guidelines reinforcement affects clinical results after non-surgical periodontal treatment in individuals with periodontal disease.

METHODS: In this double-blind, randomized study, 36 patients with stage I and stage II periodontitis received non-surgical treatment and were randomly assigned to two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a motivational-health text message intervention twice weekly for four weeks, whereas the control group did not receive text messages. Before and after the intervention, clinical parameters such as pocket depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL), plaque index (PI), and gingival bleeding index (BI) were assessed.

RESULTS: Periodontal parameters improved in both the experimental and control groups in this study. All parameters were improved significantly before and after the intervention in both the experimental and control groups (P- value < 0.001). Furthermore, it was revealed that the group who got scaling and root planning in addition to motivating text messages during the maintenance period had a significant reduction in BI (P value < 0.001) and PI (P value < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: Text messaging used in conjunction with a traditional approach (SRP + MI) may help patients achieve treatment objectives and aid in the management of periodontal disease.