Promoting patient compliance

Ross Walker explains how it can benefit patients’ oral health long term.

Patient compliance with oral hygiene recommendations is essential for their long-term dental health. Optimising their adherence to professional advice is one of the dental team’s many tasks during every routine or treatment appointment.

It has been proven that effective patient compliance with oral hygiene instructions (OHI) results in better dental health. For example, a systematic review and meta-analysis found that higher patient compliance was associated with a lower risk of tooth loss. Another study established positive correlations between high (complete) patient compliance and reduced plaque and bleeding on probing. There is extensive literature available today emphasising the importance of patient adherence to oral hygiene advice for good dental health – whether this is related to the provision of a specific treatment or not.

In order to encourage better patient compliance, it is necessary for the dental team to understand what factors influence each individual’s ability and willingness to follow instructions. Shah et al suggested that oral health awareness and treatment satisfaction affected a patient’s compliance with clinical instructions. So too, will their relationship with their clinician – the more they trust the professional team, the more likely they are to respect their recommendations.