The intra-oral camera, dental health communication and oral hygiene.

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of oral-hygiene instruction in improving oral health in 100 patients following oral hygiene instruction, with and without use of an intra-oral camera. The two groups of 50 patients were similar in age and sex distributions, frequency of caries, plaque accumulation and gingival bleeding. Prospective improvements in oral hygiene and compliance were measured by means of plaque levels and gingival bleeding at baseline and four weeks later. While both groups showed a clear reduction in plaque accumulation, the test group benefited from the use of the intra-oral camera. A majority of patients (88 per cent) thought that the extra information provided by the camera was helpful and desirable. This study demonstrates that the intra-oral camera can effectively augment oral-hygiene instruction and help create improvements in patient compliance.