PATTERN OF ORAL HYGIENE MAINTENANCE AMONG PATIENTS SEEN AT TWO TERTIARY HOSPITALS.

The study was conducted in two tertiary hospitals to observe frequency & duration of tooth brushing & their relation with incidence of caries, gingivitis & sensitivity. In this study total 1200 patients were selected randomly reported to Department of Operative Dentistry of both institutes. The duration of study was one year. Out of these 1200 patients 755 (62.91%) were male and 445 (37.08%) were female with age range from 15-74 years. All patients were divided into three groups on the basis of their age, in group 1 age range was 15-25 years, in group 2 age range was 26-50 years while group 3included patients of above 50 years. After taking consent from the patients a self designed questionnaire was used to get necessary details. Data compiling and statistical analysis was done by using SPSS - 20 & results were obtained. Brushing frequency and duration of brushing is better in group 2 followed by group 1 & 3 respectively. The rate of caries and gingivitis is also significantly higher in group 2 (50.8% & 40.4%) followed by group 1 (21.6% & 15%) and group 3 (1.8% & 2.5%) respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]