Compliance with supportive periodontal therapy.

Analysis of 1,280 private patient records from a periodontal clinic showed poor compliance with supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). Data were analyzed according to sex, age, and type of treatment (with or without periodontal surgery). Analysis showed that 25.2% of the patients never returned and among those who report for SPT, only 40.1% did so regularly; the percent of surgical cases was greater (70.7%) and those patients had better compliance (77.6%); compliance of women was greater (76.5%); abandonment of supportive periodontal treatment was high (66.7%), and compliance increased with age. Several suggestions concerning clinical procedures are offered with the objective of motivating patients to give the necessary importance to supportive periodontal therapy.