[Standard of domiciliary care and hygienic habits of patients with prostheses].

Abstract

By means of an enquiry on the standard of domiciliary dental care and hygienic habits of patients with prostheses the authors examined a total of 102 patients. They were divided into groups with natural teeth, removable dentures and fixed dentures which were their main interest. Patients with fixed dentures clean their teeth twice a day, only 18% clean their teeth for more than 2 minutes. The majority of patients prefer hard tooth-brushes. Other means than tooth paste are used by few: 36% of the patients reported massage, 7% irrigation, nobody uses a dental thread. Before prosthetic treatment 14% of the patients were examined by a periodontologist, 13% of the patients are invited to attend regular check-ups of prosthetic appliances. The hygienic standard is thus still inadequate. It is important to improve the motivation of patients for oral hygiene and intensify preventive periodontological and prosthetic cooperation.