Periodontal awareness, health, and treatment need in dental school patients. I. Patient interviews.

The present study aimed to evaluate the periodontal awareness and the amount of information and periodontal treatment received previously in a group of randomly selected patients scheduled for periodontal treatment in a dental school. A group of 124 patients were interviewed by a dental hygienist before the treatment started. Age, sex, and regularity of dental visits were used as predictors. Around 68% of the patients were not aware of the existing periodontal disease, and 74% had never received any information about the treatment possibilities. Ninety per cent claimed that they had never received any periodontal treatment at all. The modality of periodontal treatment and the extent to which the patients had been instructed in toothbrushing were almost equal in patients who visited the dentist yearly and in emergency patients.