The effect of right or left-handedness on oral hygiene

It has been shown that there is a strong relation between periodontal diseases and bacterial plaque with clinical and experimental studies. According to scientific data, the best way to protect against the periodontal diseases is to remove bacterial plaque from tooth surface mechanically. To remove bacterial plaque from tooth surface completely, the patient must have good hand skill and motivation in addition to professional treatment. The aim of our study was to examine whether there is a difference between the left-handed who are known as skillful at drawing, geometry, and graphics and the right-handed at oral hygiene check. The study included 28 persons, 12 female and 16 male, ranging in age from 19 to 26. Subjects were divided into two groups according to their right or left hand use. Being right- or left-handed was determined with Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Oldfield). Both groups were given oral hygiene education with a systematic treatment at the beginning of the study. At the beginning of the study, GI (Silness-Löe) and PI (Quigley-Hein) scores were taken from all subjects. Then, those scores were repeated in the 1st and 3rd month. Received scores were evaluated statistically with Wilcoxon test. While there was no statistical difference between both groups initially p > .05, there was a statistical difference between them in the 1st and 3rd month in favour of the left-handed p < .05. Consequently, it was found that the left-handed were more successful at oral hygiene check than the right-handed.