Oral Impact on Daily Performance, Personality Traits, and Compliance in Periodontal Maintenance Therapy

Abstract

Background: To our knowledge, the association between personality traits and oral health impacts on daily activities among patients under periodontal maintenance was not previously evaluated. The present study aims to determine the oral health impacts among regular- and erratic-complier patients and their correlations with personality traits by means of the oral impacts on daily performance (OIDP) and the neuroticism extraversion openness five-factor inventory (NEO FFI-R) instruments. Methods: A total of 58 regular and 58 erratic compliers matched by sex, diabetes, and smoking were recruited from a cohort of 238 participants under periodontal maintenance. Periodontal examinations and questionnaire applications were performed in recalls during a 3-year interval. The influence of variables of interest on the OIDP was evaluated through univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses. Results: The periodontal status of regular compliers was significantly better than that of erratic compliers. Erratic compliers presented higher OIDP scores (36.34 +/- 6.64) compared to regular compliers (30.45 +/- 7.72). Higher scores of neuroticism and conscientiousness (R(2) = 68%; P <0.001) were associated with higher OIDP scores among regular compliers, whereas among erratic compliers, lower scores of neuroticism, higher openness, and extraversion (R(2) = 77%; P = 0.001) were associated with higher OIDP scores. Conclusion: Personality traits, mainly neuroticism, showed significant influences on OIDP among patients under periodontal maintenance. J Periodontol 2011;82:1146-1154.