A survey on oral hygiene methods practiced by patients attending Dentistry Department at a Tertiary Care Hospital from Central Gujarat

OBJECTIVE: Oral hygiene is important not only for maintaining health of teeth and gingivae in an individual but also for good and uneventful regeneration and healing of tissues, when one has undergone one or other dental treatments. This makes it important to have an understanding of oral hygiene practices employed by the population. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: This descriptive cross-sectional hospital-based survey was carried out to know oral hygiene methods practiced by patients who visited Department of Dentistry at a Tertiary Care Hospital attached to medical college from Central Gujarat. While examining and recording their history, their mode of oral hygiene practice was also noted. Recorded data were entered in Microsoft Excel and analyzed in SPSS Statistics Version 17.0. The study reports proportions of the variables under study in percentages. RESULTS: The patients ranged from 4 to 80 years in age with equal numbers from both genders. The number of participants using modern and scientific material and instrument for oral hygiene was good. However, majority of them performed it only once a day, and none after every meal or at bed time. CONCLUSION: There is a need to improve the frequency of oral hygiene procedure among the studied population as well as use of dental floss needs to be increased.