"Spontaneous" oral hygiene: a predictor for future preventive behavior?

The aim of this study was to establish whether a patient's "spontaneous" hygiene could be a reliable predictor of his or her tendency to maintain a certain permanent level of hygiene. The sample comprised 147 private periodontal patients whose plaque indices were recorded before (index 1) and after (index 2) a standardized hygiene program was carried out. According to their initial indices the patients were distributed in 10 classes (Class 0: from 0 to 10% using O'Leary's plaque index, class 1: from 11% to 20%, etc.). The two biggest classes were greater than 50% (48.3% of the subjects of the whole sample belonged to classes 5 and 6). A coefficient (IC) = Index 1 - Index 2/Index 1 + Index 2 was conceived to appreciate the different degrees of improvement. There was a marked difference in behavior between patients whose initial plaque index was less than 50% and those whose initial index was greater than 50%. The former improved noticeably, whereas the latter did not. Within the limits of the investigated population the following conclusions can be drawn: 1) initial plaque index and possibilities of improvement are correlated; 2) initial plaque index, recorded prior to any periodontal treatment, may be a reliable predictor of a patient's future compliance.