COMPARISON OF MODES OF ORAL HYGIENE INSTRUCTION IN IMPROVING GINGIVALHEALTH

195 Hong Kong Chinese employees from a single company participated in a 10-month longitudinal study bn the effects of various modes of deliv ery of oral hygiene messages on their gingival health. Subjects were a llocated to one of the following modes of oral hygiene education: (1) personal instruction; (2) self-education manual; (3) video; (4) a comb ination of 2 or more of these modes of instruction. Scaling or any oth er form of periodontal treatment was not given throughout the study pe riod. Full mouth clinical examinations were carried out using a Willia ms Periodontal probe to examine for the presence or absence of plaque and bleeding on probing from the gingival sulcus. At 2 weeks, 4 months and 10 months, results showed significant reductions in the mean % of plaque and bleeding when compared with baseline. No significant diffe rences were found between the groups given the various modes of oral h ygiene education. The study does confirm the effectiveness of oral hyg iene alone in improving gingival health, but the lack of difference in the outcome of various oral hygiene education approaches indicates th at the mode of instruction is not crucially important to the end resul t. However, it has to be acknowledged that improvement in oral hygiene may be related to factors other than the oral hygiene programme itsel f. The findings have significant implications in oral health promotion programmes to improve the periodontal status of the local community.