Introduction: Dental plaque is a naturally occurring biofilm that embeds on the surface of the teethI and can be a major cause of a variety of oral issues like bleeding gums and bad breath. To combat this, a variety of mechanical and chemical methods can be employed, like brushing the teeth, flossing, rinsing the oral cavity with the mouthwash etc. Aim: To analyse the awareness about the different methods of plaque removal among the outpatients at Saveetha Dental College, Chennai. Materials and Methods: A survey was conducted by making a questionnaire and an interviewer-based survey was carried out. The sample size was 117 and the data collected was exported to excel and then SPSS for statistical analysis using chi-square test. Results: The results of the study were statistically significant and showed that 65.81% of the population regularly rinsed their mouth, and 45.30% of the population brushed for 2-3 minutes. The regularity of flossing is significantly higher in people who received dental treatment less than 1 year ago , as compared to people who never received dental treatment. The regularity of mouth rinsing was significantly higher in people who had a dental visit less than 6 months ago, as compared to people who never received dental treatment. (p value - 0.01) Conclusion: From the results, it was concluded that the outpatients in private dental colleges in Chennai are aware about the different mechanical and chemical plaque cleaning methods employed. Dental visit is significantly associated with oral hygiene practices.

Plaque control, Mechanical Methods, Chemical Methods, innovative analysis, Biofilm