Association between patients' chief complaints and their compliance with periodontal therapy

To evaluate the association between patients' chief complaints (CCs) and their compliance with basic periodontal therapy.

Data on CCs and periodontal diseases were obtained from patients attending a periodontal clinic. Patient compliance with basic periodontal therapy was studied in relation to their CCs.

The mean age of the 1196 subjects was 47.7±11.6 years. Among them, 36.9% of the subjects had chronic symptomatic CCs; 22.4%, acute symptomatic CCs; and 40.7%, asymptomatic CCs. Four hundred eighty subjects completed basic periodontal therapy; 209, incomplete treatment; and 507, no treatment. The subjects with acute symptomatic CCs were 60% more likely to receive periodontal treatment [odds ratio (OR)=1.661; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.203-2.293] than chronic symptomatic subjects, as did the asymptomatic subjects (OR=1.669; 95% CI: 1.252-2.223). However, subjects with acute symptomatic CCs were 60% less likely to complete periodontal treatment (OR=0.420; 95% CI: 0.267-0.660). The OR of completing treatment for the copayment requirement was 1.944, while that for being treated by an experienced periodontist was 1.695.

Patients' CCs were associated with their compliance to basic periodontal therapy. Acute symptomatic CCs may be a positive predictor to initiate periodontal treatment but a negative predictor to complete the treatment.