Objective To explore the effect of graphic combined health education on orthodontic nursing in adolescents. Methods A total of 86 adolescent orthodontic patients who were treated in our hospital from February 2023 to February 2024 were randomly divided into control group and study group, with 43 patients in each group. The control group was given routine nursing, and the study group was given graphic combined health education on this basis. The oral health status, compliance behavior, oral knowledge, complication rate and nursing satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results The plaque index and gingival index of the study group were lower than those of the control group (P <0.05). The scores of compliance behavior in the study group were higher than those in the control group (P <0.05). The scores of brushing teeth, diet and daily nursing in the study group were higher than those in the control group (P <0.05). The incidence of complications in the study group was 2.33%, which was lower than 13.95% in the control group (P <0.05). The nursing satisfaction of the study group was 100%, which was higher than 88.37% of the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion The application of graphic combined health education in the clinical nursing of adolescent orthodontic patients can improve their oral health, improve compliance behavior, enrich oral health knowledge, reduce the incidence of complicaions, and improve patient satisfaction. It is worthy of clinical application.