Compliance with maintenance therapy after periodontal treatment

The aim of this study was to investigate the degree of compliance with a post treatment maintenance programme and to establish whether compliance could be related to the clinical assessment parameters before treatment or at the end of the initial phase of treatment. The study was carried out on 231 individuals who had been referred for periodontal therapy. Initial and post treatment plaque and gingivitis levels and pocket depth measurements were evaluated, in order to establish if postoperative compliance could be related to any of the pretreatment clinical parameters, or the changes which took place in these parameters as a result of treatment. It was found that more females tended to comply with the prescribed maintenance programme. Highly significant differences in the clinical parameters were noted for the compliant and non-compliant groups before treatment and at the end of the initial phase of treatment. 42% of individuals did not comply with the prescribed maintenance treatment. It is concluded that the degree of postoperative compliance with maintenance therapy is unrelated to the clinical parameters evaluated. The clinician must therefore recognise that a large percentage of individuals may not comply with the postoperative maintenance programme, although it is not possible to anticipate which individuals are less likely to be compliant from assessment of the clinical assessment parameters routinely used in clinical practice.