Association of Oral Hygiene with Periodontal Health

Objective: To assess correlation between oral hygiene maintenance and periodontal health among population of Pakistan. Methodology: This was a Cross sectional study conducted at Department of periodontology Combined Military Hospital, Lahore in six months. Total 47 patients were included in the study using a simple random sampling technique. Patients of all genders and ages 18–70 with good dental follow- up visits for the past 3 years, maintained oral hygiene, poor oral hygiene and negligence toward dental care, parafunctional habits, and smokers, beetle nut users, and snuff users were included. Outcome measures for the patients included periodontal health, Plaque index, Probe depth, Modified gingival index and oral hygiene measures. Independent sample t-test, Chi Square test and Pearson correlation were used to see association. Results: Periodontal index score showed significant difference for use of interdental aid regularly (p- value=0.009). Gender (p-value=0.011) and visit the dentist for routine checkups showed significant difference in DMFT score (p-value=0.003). Plaque index and Gingival Index showed no significant association towards brushing teeth twice daily, use of fluoride paste, use of mouth wash, use of interdental aid regularly, visit the dentist for routine checkups and don't smoke. However, drink fluoridated water showed significant association with gingival index. Weak significant positive correlation was seen between periodontal index and age and strong positive significant correlation was seen between DMFT score and periodontal index. Conclusion: This study concluded that, only usage of fluorinated water is significantly associated with DMFT score. However, no association found between oral hygiene measures and PIS. Key Words: Oral hygiene, Periodontal health, Plaque index, Gingival Index