Dental appointment, one hour and included activities that are normally part of a SPT consultation (Bardet et al. 1999), as well as specific behavior change techniques, such as the use of reinforcement, goal-setting and feedback as described by Newton and Asimakopoulou (2015). Special attention was given to patient communication and words such as 'cleaning' and 'hygiene' were replaced by therapeutic synonyms (e.g. inflamed areas and controlling the inflammation). In this group, the device SOPROCARE® by Acteon was used in the examination and diagnosis and also for the establishment of therapeutic goals, strategies and skills.

Dental appointment, one hour and included activities that are normally part of a SPT consultation (Bardet et al. 1999), as well as specific behavior change techniques, such as the use of reinforcement, goal-setting and feedback as described by Newton and Asimakopoulou (2015) and considered crucial to the accomplishment of long term behavior change. Moreover, special attention was given to patient communication and words such as 'cleaning' and 'hygiene' were replaced by therapeutic synonyms (e.g. inflamed areas and controlling the inflammation) in order to focus patients´ attention on the varied facets of oral health care and increase their perception of the treatment needs. In this group, the device SOPROCARE® by Acteon was not used.

In this index, bleeding is scored during 30 seconds of probing using a 3 point scale from 0 to 2 (0 - no bleeding, 1 - point bleeding, 2 - excess bleeding).

In order to assess dental hygiene, two questions were asked on brushing and flossing habits. Individual scores for brushing and flossing were calculated and a composite score was also computed for both (referred to as Dental Hygiene). A 5 point Likert-scale was used. Item example: In the last two weeks/four months how often have you flossed your teeth?