Abstract

GOMES, Viviane Elisângela  and  SILVA, Débora Dias da. The importance of dental plaque control in the dental clinic. Arq. Odontol. [online]. 2010, vol.46, n.1, pp. 22-27. ISSN 1516-0939.

Motivating self care through an effective dental plaque control should be one of the main measures of oral health prevention in dental clinics. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate OHI-S (Simplified Oral Hygiene Index) in two different stages, initial and final, in addition to the treatment needs of the people who attended the Dental Clinics of the University of Paraná (Unipar). The files of 96 patients attended to between 2004 and 2006 within the academic subjects of Preventive and Sanitary Dentistry and Ergonomics II were included. The findings indicated a 33% reduction in the amount of dental plaque. Comparing the data of the initial and final OHI-S, a reduction in the percentage of patients with results that were considered €œweak€ (from 28% to 15%) could be observed, as compared an increase in the percentage of the OHI-S results that were considered €œgood€ (from 5% to 16%). Most patients needed fluoride therapy (24%) and supragingival calculus scaling (23%). The philosophy used in the classes related to the reduction in the quantity of plaque on the part of the patients proved to be promising.

Keywords : Dental plaque; Oral hygiene index; Self care; Dental caries; Public health.