Application of health quotient to enhance chronic periodontitis treatments

OBJECTIVES: Based on the concept of health quotient (HQ), we designed and facilitated personalized plans to improve patients’ compliance and oral health. The study aims to increase HQ level of patients with chronic periodontitis from four aspects, namely self-care, health knowledge, lifestyle, and mental health, and evaluate the effects of HQ training in maintaining oral health. METHOD: In total, 105 patients with chronic periodontitis were recruited from Capital Medical University-Affiliated Beijing Chaoyang Hospital from January 2015 to January 2017. The patients were randomly split into two groups (control versus test). All the patients received standard periodontal treatments. In addition, patients in the control group received conventional oral health instructions, and patients in the test group received the HQ training. At the end of the training, oral health status of both groups was evaluated and recorded. RESULTS: The oral health status and the HQ scores were significantly better in the test group than the control group (P<0.01). The training in HQ provided a better guidance for patients in oral health maintenance and further improved patients’ compliance. CONCLUSION: HQ training for patients with chronic periodontitis increased their scores in self-care and health knowledge and significantly slowed down the progression of chronic periodontitis.