Keeping healthy

Instruction in self-performed, mechanical plaque removal has been the bedrock of oral disease prevention for the past century. Maintaining a good level of oral hygiene is the key to sound oral health and the prevention of periodontal disease for the majority of patients.

However, we also know that establishing and maintaining effective biofilm (plaque) control is not just about having the manual dexterity to brush effectively but also the many factors that strongly influence compliance and motivation. These factors include attitude, understanding, beliefs and lifestyle, all of which need to be taken into consideration when trying to affect permanent change in a patient’s habits. Ensuring patients’ amenability to oral hygiene advice, reducing the risk of oral disease and maintaining oral health is a difficult and demanding goal for the dental profession, indeed, one of the most debated issues in public health is that of the effectiveness of health education.

Whilst there is evidence that oral health education/promotion can be effective in bringing about a change in patients’ knowledge and improving patients’ oral health, there is also further indicators that bespoke or tailored advice appears to be the most effective means of delivering oral hygiene advice. This is, particularly true for long-term compliance and specifically for patients with chronic periodontitis.