Retrospective evaluation of patient compliance with supportive periodontal treatment.

Four hundred sixty-two patients were retrospectively evaluated for their compliance to periodontal therapy in terms of attendance for a recommended schedule of visits, being classified as either compliant or non-compliant. Compliant patients were further divided into erratic and complete complier groups. The results indicated that there were no significant differences between the compliant and non-compliant groups with regard to the numbers of teeth lost before treatment, and dental insurance coverage. There were more women among the compliant patients. In the non-compliant group, more patients received only initial periodontal therapy, whereas in the compliant group more patients received periodontal surgery. No significant differences were found between the erratic and complete complier groups with regard to age, sex and treatment undertaken. Erratic complier patients lost more teeth than complete complier patients during supportive periodontal treatment. The main finding of this study was that no factors other than the complexity of active periodontal therapy had any influence on patients being compliant or non-compliant. Furthermore, no factors were found to affect the degree of compliancy. Our results suggest that patients' understanding of periodontal treatment plays a major role in compliance with supportive periodontal treatment.