Compliance with supportive periodontal therapy among patients with aggressive and chronic periodontitis

Compliance with supportive periodontal therapy (SPT) depends on many factors but is generally poor. We compared SPT compliance among patients with aggressive and chronic periodontitis. This single-center longitudinal observational study enrolled 101 patients with generalized aggressive periodontitis (GAP; n = 52) or generalized chronic periodontitis (GCP; n = 49) to compare SPT compliance. All participants were studied for 1 year before the close of data collection. Compliance was classified as complete (100% of programmed visits), erratic (≥50% of programmed visits), or noncompliant (<50% of programmed visits). The proportion of compliant participants was greater among patients with GAP (57.7%) than among those with GCP (30.6%) (P < 0.003); 44.9% of patients with GCP and 15.4% of those with GAP were noncompliant. Compliance was significantly associated with age and sex among patients with GAP. In conclusion, SPT compliance was better in patients with GAP than in those with GCP. Patient attitude and self-belief appear to be important factors in SPT compliance.