Oral Hygiene Neglect after Dental Restoration: Assessing Patients’ Misconceptions and Awareness – A Systematic Review

Abstract

Dental restorations are common worldwide and depend on proper placement and oral hygiene. Misconceptions among patients can lead to poor hygiene and early failure. Addressing these helps improve education and prolong restorations. This review aimed to collect evidence of neglect of oral hygiene after dental restoration regarding misconceptions, knowledge lacunae, and awareness of post-restoration care. The literature search was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed. It returned 518 records (Google Scholar: 44; PubMed: 474). After 18 duplicates were removed, 500 unique records were screened at the title and abstract level. Out of these, 11 studies were found to meet the inclusion criteria and were taken for full-text review. In the end, nine studies were considered for the final qualitative analysis. The nine studies were carried out worldwide, including in China, India, and Romania, and adopted surveys, questionnaires, and reviews. The sample size ranged from small clinical studies to large population surveys (n = 2,529). All of them showed the same result: knowledge, attitudes, and practices of patients with respect to dental restorations were inadequate. Major findings were as follows: (1) Patients from small cities and rural areas had poor knowledge of oral health. (2) Attitudes significantly influenced the failure of restorations.
(3) Durability of restorations was lower among individuals with caries at high risk. (4) Educational interventions were indicated for hygiene practices post-restoration. This review reveals persistent gaps and misconceptions
in dental patients’ knowledge of oral hygiene after restorations. It emphasizes the need for targeted, culturally relevant education, especially for underserved and high-risk groups.