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Need for dental hygiene and dental care in Veterans Administration patients
Author(s) -
MASEMAN DENISE C.,
HUNTLEY DIANE E.,
WHETSTONE SHEILA D.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
special care in dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.328
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1754-4505
pISSN - 0275-1879
DOI - 10.1111/j.1754-4505.1988.tb00681.x
Subject(s) - medicine , quadrant (abdomen) , dental hygiene , dentistry , oral hygiene , dental care , surgery
The Periodontol Treatment Needs System (PTNS) was used to classify needs of 102 patients, 97 males and five females, at the VAMC Dental Service. The PTNS is based on the presence or absence of plaque, calculus or overhangs, inflammation, and pocket depth. In addition, need for restorative and prosthetic care was added to the PTNS based on dentists' diagnosis. All classification was done by quadrant. All subjects required dental hygiene or periodontal care; 45% of the subjects need restorative treatment, prosthetic treatment, or both. Differences in numbers of patients requiring each type of treatment were highly significant. Multiple regression showed that age was positively related to type of treatment needed, with a significant difference in dental hygiene or periodontal needs by quadrant. The results of this study show greater need for dental hygiene and periodontal treatment than for dental treatment in these patients.