Oral hygiene. Today's view

Dental plaque is ubiquitous and causes the most common bacterial disorders known to mankind. Whilst there are other factors to consider, thorough and regular plaque removal will result in profound reductions of these diseases. Although the concept of effective mechanical plaque control is intellectually simple, there are many barriers to its successful implementation, both for the individual and the community. Identification of 'high risk' groups for oral diseases might allow better targeting of efforts and progress has been made in this area. Chemical control of plaque or modification of hard/soft tissue substrates, as an adjunct to oral hygiene, have the potential to further reduce the prevalence of these diseases. This has been most convincingly demonstrated by fluoride dentifrices and could be extended further with a caries vaccine. It is to be hoped that further developments will also have a major impact on the periodontal diseases, especially in the light of the emerging data on the relationship between poor oral health and systemic health disorders such as coronary heart disease.