To analyze the respondents’ attitudes to oral hygiene and to assess the need for professional oral hygiene in different regions of the Russian Federation based on the data of questionnaire analysis.

OBJECTIVE

To obtain comparative data on the issues of individual and professional oral hygiene of patients of medical dental organizations in a number of Russian cities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We conducted an anonymous questionnaire survey of 624 patients (18 to 70 years old) who applied to medical dental organizations of different forms of ownership in five regions of the Russian Federation (Moscow, Omsk, Ryazan, Samara, Tambov). Patients were interviewed using a specially designed questionnaire.

RESULTS

The study involved patients of medical dental organizations from 5 regions of the Russian Federation, 57.2% of them were women and 42.8% men. In all cities more than 50% of the surveyed patients received care under the MHI program. More than 50% of the surveyed patients said that they tried to brush their teeth twice a day, the rest of the respondents said that they brushed their teeth only twice a day. Up to 27% of patients are not willing to comply with individualized dental care recommendations for various reasons.

CONCLUSIONS

Highly motivated patients to high-quality dental hygiene behavior are in minority; according to the results of the study, it can be stated that there is a high need for professional oral hygiene among the surveyed respondents. It is necessary to work with patients to improve hygienic knowledge, skills and motivation for quality oral hygiene.