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From Trisha's Desk Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, MS Editorial Director, Hygienetown

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OHI Success Stories
– by Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, BS, Hygienetown Editorial Director

Oral hygiene instructions (OHI) are more about life coaching and self-esteem than simply plaque removal. When your instructions and coaching are successful, you improve oral health and you also change lives.
Researchers conclude that those living at low social economic (SE) levels will have poor oral hygiene and consequently, more dental disease. Here's my theory: after years of providing oral hygiene instructions to people of all income and education levels, it's the other way around. People living at low SE levels often feel hopeless, and feel their lives are out of their control. OHI provides an opportunity for people to learn something about themselves that they can control – their oral health. When they understand the disease process for caries and periodontal disease and they are shown easy, predictable ways to control bacterial biofilm in their mouths, and even easier ways to measure their success, amazing things happen beyond the teeth and gums. Self-esteem is increased and this leads to other positive changes in life.

Many years ago I treated a man with poor oral health and low self-esteem. His poor oral hygiene matched his slovenly outward appearance. Giving him the knowledge to change his oral health and coaching him as to the products and techniques that fit best into his life improved more than just his oral health. Gaining confidence in his ability to control his oral health spilled over into other aspects of his life. He started showering and cleaning up before he came to his appointments. Next, he was doing better at work and to my surprise, he was going back to school.

Gaining confidence in one area of life – oral health – can impact an individual's overall self-esteem. This isn't unique to my experience. Many clinicians have seen this happen for their patients as well. The focus of our work is improving oral health, but if you look closely at your successes, you'll see that you are changing lives too. This is what keeps us motivated – seeing the life changes in our patients. We talk about the oral health changes, but we observe changes that go far beyond the mouth.

Research by Dr. I. MacGregor and his team confirms a link between self-esteem and oral health behaviors, but just the other way around. In a paper published in the Journal of Clinical Research, a group of 41,142 students, ages 12 to 16 years, from 244 schools completed a questionnaire about self-esteem, brushing, flossing and dental visits. Frequency of toothbrushing and dental visits were correlated with self-esteem. From Dr. MacGregor's perspective, high self-esteem is what leads to more positive dental health behaviors. From my experience, I have to politely disagree with Dr. MacGregor, as it seems to me it is actually the reverse. The frequency of dental visits and oral health instructions might in themselves lead to an increase in self-esteem.

Clinicians see changes in patients as the result of good dental care and effective oral hygiene instructions. As a person's oral health improves and they realize they do have control, their self-esteem improves as evidenced by their overall grooming and outlook. In this instance, the "locus of control" has been shifted from external, in which individuals think they have no control, to internal, where they perceive they do have control over their own oral health.

Share your OHI success stories in the Hygienetown message board titled: You change lives with OHI. And remember, you do change lives!

Inside This Section
116 Perio Reports
120 Profile in Oral Health: Dental Hygiene Consultants
124 Message Board: Another Very Interesting Perio Case
126 Message Board: Cavitron Used on Implants?
Look for additional content in the Hygienetown Magazine digital edition.
Dentaltown Magazine
September 2025
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