title: Aspects related to a periodontal home prevention program for disabled patients: a clinical trial.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of the present study was to highlight the relationship between the level of oral hygiene and the context in which the patient receives dental treatment, demonstrating that home service is essential and effective to decrease the incidence of periodontal diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was initially conducted on a heterogeneous sample of patients including 48 individuals with psycho-motor deficits. The study included 28 males (58.3%) and 20 females (41.7%) aged between 18 and 50 years, coming from two different sites ("Fa.Di.Vi… e oltre" and "Dentistry Unit, Istituto G. Gaslini" in Genoa). The patients were evaluated during the period 2008-2009. After this first pilot study, a clinical trial was conducted within the educational center "Il Granello", with the participation of 20 patients with disabilities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  This study demonstrates that home assistance is essential and effective to decrease the incidence of those periodontal diseases induced by bacterial dental plaque accumulation, and associated with aggravating factors like the repeated use of drugs, such as benzodiazepines, phenylhydantoin, and cyclosporin A, that cause gingival hypertrophia.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study was proposed to demonstrate that the availability of a dental service within institutions could improve not only the dental-periodontal conditions of the participants, but also decrease the admission of these subjects to hospitals, contributing to the reduction of public expenditure by the Health Care System.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dentistry, University of Genoa Genoa, Italy - lfcingano@libero.it.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cingano
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aonzo
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Servetto
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Calcagno
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003631:Day Care, Medical; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D005884:Gingival Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D005886:Gingival Hypertrophy / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D006699:Home Care Services; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth / Q000382:microbiology; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010512:Periodontal Index; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012648:Self Care; D055815:Young Adult