The Impact of Brief‐Motivational Interviewing on Probing Depths, Recession, and Clinical Attachment Levels: A Randomized Clinical Trial With a 3‐Year Follow‐Up

AIMS: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of four brief-motivational interviewing (MI) sessions compared to traditional oral hygiene instructions (OHI) during a 1-year randomised clinical trial (RCT) with a 3-year follow-up post intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants were randomised to a brief-MI or traditional OHI group and received periodontal maintenance therapy during the 1-year RCT. Clinical outcomes of probing depth (PD), clinical attachment level (CAL) and recession (REC) were collected by a masked examiner at baseline, 4, 8 and 12 months and at the 3-year follow-up post-intervention. Outcomes were compared between treatment groups (using 95% confidence intervals and p-values). Analyses were performed using R version 4.3.2. RESULTS: Of 60 participants, 97% (n = 58) completed the 1-year RCT and 71% (n = 41) were retained for the 3-year follow-up. A statistically significant difference for the brief-MI group for PD (p < 0.0001) and CAL (p = 0.0001) was yielded at all time points in the 1 year RCT. PD was maintained for the brief-MI group 2.93 (2.83, 3.04) (p < 0.0001) and CAL was not significant 3.30 (3.14, 3.46) (p = 0.81) at 3-year follow-up post intervention. CONCLUSION: The superior improvements observed in PD and CAL at the 3-year follow-up highlight the impact of brief-MI combined with periodontal maintenance therapy to promote long-term periodontal stability.