RESUMEN
Hygiene of implant-supported prostheses and the health of peri-implant tissues are considered to be predictive factors of successful prosthetic rehabilitation. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of brushing associated with oral irrigation measured as biofilm-removing capacity, maintenance of healthy oral tissues, and patient satisfaction. A randomized, crossover clinical trial was conducted with 38 patients who wore conventional maxillary complete dentures and mandibular overdentures retained by the O-ring system. The patients were instructed to use the following hygiene methods for 14 days: mechanical brushing (MB; brush and dentifrice, control) and MB with oral irrigation (Waterpik [WP], experimental). Biofilm-removing capacity and maintenance of healthy oral tissues were evaluated by the modified plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), probing depth (PD), and bleeding on probing index (BP) recorded at baseline and after each method. In parallel, patients answered a specific questionnaire using a visual analog scale after each hygiene method. Data were analyzed by Friedman and Wilcoxon tests (α = .05). The results showed significantly lower PI, GI, PD, and BP after application of the hygiene methods (P < .001) than those observed at baseline. However, no significant difference was found between MB and WP. The responses to the satisfaction questionnaire for both methods showed high mean values for all questions, with no statistically significant difference found between the answers given after the use of MB and WP (P > .05). The findings suggest that WP was effective in reducing PI, GI, PD, and BP indices and provided a high level of patient satisfaction.