ABSTRACT

Oral diseases are still prevalent in developing countries and their impacts on both society and individuals are significant. The cost of the treatments are usually high, although the causes of the diseases are known and largely preventable. Evidence shows that the growth of the dental plaque and inflammation of the gingival tissue leading to periodontitis are ubiquitous and strongly linked irrespective of age, gender or social/ ethnic identification. Regular and thorough removal of dento- gingival plaque is crucial for maintenance of periodontal health. The aim of this study was to assess the plaque index among patients provided with health education counselling in a dental institution. This retrospective study was done in an institutional setting among patients who have visited the dental facility, the records of the patient were obtained from a given time period of June 2019 to April 2020. Data was retrieved and evaluated by 2 reviewers. Once the data was collected, it was tabulated based on the parameters which are gender, age and plaque index. The sample size for this study was found to be 1934 patients. The data was sorted and was tabulated in excel. Analysis of data was done in SPSS software. The total number of males who had participated in this study was n=1152 whereas the number of females who had participated in the study was n=770. More number of males (1162) had come back for the counselling (P= 0.060) than the females (773). The total number of patients who had come back for the counselling were n= 1316 whereas n=618 patients had not come back for the health education counselling. The mean plaque index score for the patients who returned for the second health education review was found to be 0.8033 and the mean plaque index score for those who did not come back for their second health education review was 2.6715. For the health education that had been provided for patients between 18-27 years, 599 of the patients had come back for the counselling and in the age groups 28-37 years , 390 patients had come back for counselling and between the age groups of 8-17 years- 565 patients had come back for counselling. We conclude that Patients who had come back for their health education counselling were found to have a lower plaque index score in their second visit as compared to the plaque index score in their first visit. Keywords: Health Education, Plaque, Oral hygiene
Publication date: 01/08/2021

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2021/August/MS_IJBPAS_2021_AUG_SPCL_1057.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2021/10.8.1057