Finding an upper limit of what might be achievable by patients: oral cleanliness in dental professionals after self-performed manual oral hygiene

Aims Though patients have been shown to have difficulties in achieving oral cleanliness after self-performed oral hygiene, scientifically and empirically justified standards for the degree of oral cleanliness they should achieve are lacking. Oral cleanliness of dental staff was therefore assessed as an indicator of what might be an upper limit of what can be expected by patients.