THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL DOCUMENT HOW DIDACTIC AND CLINICAL INSTRUCTION, INTEGRATED WITH A BEHAVIORAL MODIFI- CATION COMPONENT TO ENHANCE COMPLIANCE, WILL INFLUENCE SUBJECTS' SUCCESS IN REMOVING PLAQUE.

THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL DOCUMENT HOW DIDACTIC AND CLINICAL INSTRUCTION, INTEGRATED WITH A BEHAVIORAL MODIFI- CATION COMPONENT TO ENHANCE COMPLIANCE, WILL INFLUENCE SUBJECTS' SUCCESS IN REMOVING PLAQUE. AFTER AN INITIAL SCREENING, 150 CORPORATE EMPLOYEES WILL BE EQUALLY DIVIDED INTO TWO GROUPS. GROUP I WILL SERVE AS THE CONTROL. GROUP II WILL RECEIVE TREATMENT CONSISTING OF A LECTURE ON DENTAL PREVENTION, THREE SESSIONS OF CLINICAL TRAINING ON PROPER BRUSHING AND FLOSSING TECHNIQUES, PLUS MEETINGS WITH BEHAVIORAL PSYCHOLOGISTS AND USE OF WEEKLY SELF-MONITORING FORMS. CLINICAL EXAMINATIONS UTILIZING A STANDARD GINGIVAL AND PLAQUE INDEX AND PRETEST QUESTIONNAIRES WILL ESTABLISH BASELINE DATA. AT COMPLETION OF PHASE I, A POST-TEST QUESTIONNAIRE WILL BE COMPARED TO INITIAL RESULTS. CLINICALDATA WILL BE COMPARED AT BASELINE, THREE-, AND SIX-MONTH INTERVALS. PHASE I WILL IDENTIFY VARIABLES WHICH AFFECT COMPLIANCE AND ACQUISITION OF NEW DENTAL PREVENTION SKILLS. PHASE II WILL CONSIST OF LONG-TERM FOLLOWUP AND TESTING NEW DEPENDENT VARIABLES. IT IS POSTULATED THAT BY INCREASING DENTAL AWARENESS AND PROVIDING THE NECESSARY SKILLS AND MOTIVATION TO CONTROL ORAL HYGIENE, THE INCIDENCE OF PERIODONTAL DISEASE WILL BE REDUCED. A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE COST OF DENTAL SERVICES WILL BE REALIZED BY UTILIZINGTHIS PROGRAM.