Introduction. The appropriate oral hygiene and awareness of the importance of healthy dentition in patients with systemic diseases, especially cardiac diseases, are significant in their treatment therapy. The aim of the study. The assessment of health awareness and health behaviors in oral cavity diseases among cardiac patients. Materials and methods. The research was based on 72 cardiac patients, 33 women and 39 men, aged 58-88 years old. 47 post-myocardial infarction patients and 25 patients with other cardiac problems. To assess the health awareness the questionnaire survey was conducted. The results. Only 40,43% of the post-myocardial infarction patients were asked about their dentition by cardiologist. 30,56% of the group do not attend to the dental appointments regularly. 43,06% of the patients do not brush their teeth twice a day and 23,61% of the group noticed gum bleeding during tooth brushing, simultaneously only 44,44% of the patients know that it is a symptom of the disease. 33,33% of the group claims to have dental calculus, but only 12,5% of them remove it once a year, at the same time 41,66% of them is aware of negative effects of calculus on the heart. 30,53% of the patients have dental carious, 18,06% of the population claims to have loose teeth and 97,22% of the patients have their teeth removed, 52,87% of them because of pathologic teeth mobility. 6,64% of the patients admit to be active smokers, 51,39% have stopped smoking, and 41,67% have never smoked the cigarettes. Conclusion. The health knowledge and health seeking behavior among cardiac patients are insufficient. It is necessary to increase patients’ dental knowledge, aiming to increase the responsibility for their own health and to prevent systemic diseases including cardiac problems.
The condition of oral cavity hygiene and periodontium in post-myocardial infarction patients