title: "Spontaneous" oral hygiene: a predictor for future preventive behavior?
abstract: The aim of this study was to establish whether a patient's "spontaneous" hygiene could be a reliable predictor of his or her tendency to maintain a certain permanent level of hygiene. The sample comprised 147 private periodontal patients whose plaque indices were recorded before (index 1) and after (index 2) a standardized hygiene program was carried out. According to their initial indices the patients were distributed in 10 classes (Class 0: from 0 to 10% using O'Leary's plaque index, class 1: from 11% to 20%, etc.). The two biggest classes were greater than 50% (48.3% of the subjects of the whole sample belonged to classes 5 and 6). A coefficient (IC) = Index 1 - Index 2/Index 1 + Index 2 was conceived to appreciate the different degrees of improvement. There was a marked difference in behavior between patients whose initial plaque index was less than 50% and those whose initial index was greater than 50%. The former improved noticeably, whereas the latter did not. Within the limits of the investigated population the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) initial plaque index and possibilities of improvement are correlated; 2) initial plaque index, recorded prior to any periodontal treatment, may be a reliable predictor of a patient's future compliance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology-School of Dental Surgery, Paris VII University, France.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Alcouffe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003742:Dental Devices, Home Care; D003773:Dental Plaque / Q000517:prevention & control; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D012534:Dental Scaling; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006267:Health Education, Dental; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D011336:Probability; D014099:Toothbrushing