RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOBACCO USE AND SELF-REPORTED ORAL HYGIENE HABITS

A sample of 34,897 dental patients completed written surveys assessing their tobacco use, frequency of brushing and flossing and perception of oral health problems. Brushing two times per day was reported by 73 .5 percent of the patients and flossing one time per day by 35.6 perce nt. Tobacco users brushed and, particularly, flossed much less frequen tly than did nonusers. Compliance with daily flossing regimens was par ticularly low among smokeless tobacco users. Tobacco users also report ed more oral health problems.