Oral health of dental assistants and patients receiving maintenance--an investigation based on a district of Thuringia, Germany.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of the study was to assess data for the oral health behaviour and oral health of dental assistants (DAs) and patients (PTs) who regularly received preventive dental care.

METHODS

One-hundred DAs (38.8 years) and 100 PTs (44 years) participated in the study conducted in the Unstrut-Hainich region of Thuringia, Germany. A questionnaire established oral hygiene and smoking habits. The dental examination included the caries index DMF-T, evaluation of the periodontal situation (PSI) as well as gingival inflammation [papilla bleeding index (PBI)].

RESULTS

Seventy-seven DAs and 46 PTs used dental floss regularly. Twenty-four DAs and 27 PTs were smokers. The mean DMF-T of DAs was 12.5, which was significantly lower than the DMF-T of PTs (17.0) (P < 0.001). The main reason for this difference was the number of missing teeth (DAs: 0.9, PTs: 4.8; P < 0.001). In both groups, several participants required periodontal treatment. Nevertheless, the number of DAs with PSI scores 3 or 4 was significantly lower (9%) than the corresponding number of PTs (63%) (P < 0.001). The PBI showed a significant difference between the groups (DAs = 0.1, PTs = 0.3; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Although the oral health of the participating DAs clearly exceeded the results found for PTs, it was concluded that DAs did not avail themselves of their job-related knowledge and skills and so failed to optimize their personal oral health behaviour.