<b>Effects of hygiene guidance associated or not to provision of hygiene devices on habits of denture wearers

Abstract

Appropriate hygiene of dentures contributes to the maintenance of oral and systemic health. However, most of denture wearers had never been instructed on how to perform daily oral/denture care. The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of a guidance material associated or not to the provision of hygiene devices and its effect on the habits of denture wearers. Forty-eight complete denture wearers were randomly divided into three groups. Group N received no guidance on how to clean and wear their dentures, group G received an illustrated leaflet and verbal complementary instructions and group GK received the same guidance as group G and a hygiene kit for denture cleaning. After a six to ten week period they responded to a 'hygiene and wearing habits' questionnaire. Chi-square test was used for statistical analysis considering p < 0.05. Brushing was the most frequent cleaning method, the majority of groups N and G used toothpaste. Participants of group G and GK presented low percentages of individuals with hygiene and wearing routine considered improper. The differences between groups in hygiene and wearing routine were statistically significant (p < 0.001). The proposed guidance material yielded better results when associated to provision of hygiene devices for denture cleaning.

Evaluating denture cleanliness of patients in a regional dental hospital

“…The effects of educational intervention also mirror those improvements seen within the primary care audit by Mylonas et al and highlights the positive effects of patient education on the subsequent quality of the denture hygiene. 2,5,14 These results differ from those of Burnett et al in 1993, who found that after six months of educational intervention -written and verbal -there was no change in the denture cleaning habits of their subject group. Conversely, it has been demonstrated that illustrated denture instruction manuals and frequent recall intervals -with denture hygiene and oral hygiene reinforcement -aids in improving denture and oral hygiene habits, and can therefore be recommended.…”

“…2,5,14,20 While the baseline results for patients in this audit was slightly better than for those seen in primary dental care, the reasons for the inadequacy of patient denture hygiene were similar: lack of standardisation of denture care instructions, and lack of evidence that denture hygiene instructions were previously given to patients.…”

“…According to a number of different studies and surveys evaluating the denture hygiene habits of patients, the most commonly used mechanical method is a toothbrush with soap and water or toothpaste, while the most commonly used chemical method is either sodium hypochlorite-based cleaner or a peroxide-based cleaner. 1,2,5,14,16,17 Evidence from studies conducted outside the UK provides evidence of the denture care habits and the quality of denture hygiene of non-UK cohorts. Their results may potentially be used to inform on the denture care advice given to UK denture wearers, however, there likely will be potential differences in the availability of denture care materials and in patient denture care/hygiene attitudes.…”

“…4,[10][11][12][13] Unfortunately many patients have been shown to have inadequate denture hygiene and some still wear their dentures at night, despite evidence that nocturnal denture wearing is linked to a decrease in oral health and provides no benefit to patients' quality of sleep. 5,12,14,15 A number of different cleaning regimes are available for patients to clean their dentures and they can be classified into either chemical or mechanical methods. According to a number of different studies and surveys evaluating the denture hygiene habits of patients, the most commonly used mechanical method is a toothbrush with soap and water or toothpaste, while the most commonly used chemical method is either sodium hypochlorite-based cleaner or a peroxide-based cleaner.…”

Hygiene practices in removable prosthodontics: A systematic review

“…Denture biofilm removal can be achieved via the application of different types of hygiene practices including mechanical methods, chemical agents and irradiation or combination of the aforementioned methods . Brushing represents the most commonly applied mechanical method combining the advantage of simplicity, effectiveness and low cost . Chemical cleansing methods can include a wide range of treatments: hypochlorites, peroxides, enzymes, acids, crude drugs and mouthwashes .…”