COMPLIANCE PERCEIVED BY DUTCH PERIODONTISTS AND HYGIENISTS

Compliance is defined here as the extent to which a patient's behavior is in accordance with the health advice he has received. On the basis of factors which could affect compliance, a quantitative survey was c onducted for a group of 38 periodontists and their senior dental hygie nists. The opinions of periodontists and hygienists in perceiving comp liance were examined. Although there was agreement between periodontis ts and hygienists on some well-established aspects of compliance, the survey revealed that the role of the hygienist is of considerable cons equence: hygienists appear to be more patient-oriented than periodonti sts. Furthermore, it is stated that poor understanding of recommendati ons by patients needs more attention.