COMPLIANCE WITH SUPPORTIVE PERIODONTAL THERAPY

ANALYSIS OF 1,280 PRIVATE PATIENT records from a periodontal clinic sh owed poor compliance with supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). Data w ere analyzed according to sex, age, and type of treatment (with or wit hout periodontal surgery), Analysis showed that 25.2% of the patients never returned and among those who report for SPT, only 40.1% did so r egularly; the percent of surgical cases was greater (70.7%) and those patients had better compliance (77.6%); compliance of women was greate r (76.5%); abandonment of supportive periodontal treatment was high (6 6.7%), and compliance increased with age. Several suggestions concerni ng clinical procedures are offered with the objective of motivating pa tients to give the necessary importance to supportive periodontal ther apy.