Compliance of cigarette smokers with scheduled visits for supportive periodontal therapy

Aim To evaluate the compliance of cigarette smokers with scheduled visits for supportive periodontal therapy (SPT). Materials and Methods Qualitative and quantitative analyses of compliance with scheduled SPT visits were performed using retrospective data from patients undergoing dental hygiene treatment at the Medi School of Dental Hygiene (MSDH), Bern, Switzerland 1985-2011. Results A total of 1336 patients were identified with 32.1% (n=429) being smokers, 23.1% (n=308) former smokers and 44.8% (n=599) non-smokers. Qualitatively, significantly less smokers returned for SPT than non-smokers or former smokers (p=0.0026), whereas 25.9% (n=346) never returned for SPT. Further quantitative analysis of patients returning twice or more (n=883) revealed that the overall mean %-compliance was 69.8% (SD +/- 22.04),whereas smokers complied with 67.0% (SD +/- 22.00), former smokers with 69.7% (SD +/- 22.03), and non-smokers with 71.7% (SD +/- 21.92) reaching statistical significance (p=0.0111). Confounder adjusted analysis, however, revealed that older age (p=0.0001), female gender (p=0.0058), longer SPT intervals (p<0.0001) and higher severity of periodontal disease (p<0.0001) had a much greater impact on %-compliance than smoking (p=0.7636). Conclusions This study suggests that qualitatively, smokers return less likely for SPT than non-smokers or former smokers while quantitatively, a lower mean %-compliance of smokers attending scheduled SPT visits may be attributed to confounders.