The effect of right or left handedness on caries experience and oral hygiene

Sir,

We read the article “The effect of right or left handedness on caries experience and oral hygiene”[1] with great interest as oral health is important in the reduction of caries and gingival disease. In the present study the authors noted that subjects who used their right hands were doing better in terms of oral hygiene than those using the left with lower incidence of caries. However, the conclusion in the present study that right-handed people have better caries control is in contrast to many other studies where it was found that the left handed were more successful at oral hygiene check than the right handed.[23] In another study there was no significant relationship between manual dexterity and plaque control efficiency.[4] Not only the manual dexterity but many other factors can influence dental hygiene and caries prevalence[56] including culture, socioeconomic status, life style, dietary patterns,[78] education level,[8] psychological profile,[9] brushing habits,[10] the use of tooth paste, tooth-brushing time and the practice of correct tooth-brushing,[1112] cigarette smoking,[13] local and/or systemic diseases affecting oral aperture, causing xerostomia or affecting dominant upper extremity strength, motion, and dexterity.[14–19] We agree that further research with well-designed studies involving larger numbers of subjects is needed for better understanding of role of handedness and it would be interesting to understand the role of handedness (with many other factors) in oral hygiene and dental care and to use this information in an effective way to prevent occurrence of dental caries.