Methods: A transversal study was carried out and obtained through an interview face-to-face, with open and closed questions at the Departments of Medicine and Plastic Surgery, at Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Norte - Hospital de Santa Maria. The sample composed of 100 conscious hospitalized patients, was randomly chosen, between those with more than three days of internship and over 18 years old. Socio-demographic characteristics; questions related to oral hygiene habits and practices for the period prior to admission and during hospital stay; the hygiene care dependence level and the level of satisfaction with this care were addressed in the questionnaire. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the collected data, the later by applying the Chi-square test (comparing the answers of the period of stay) and McNemar's test (comparing the answers of the period before hospitalization with those of the period during hospitalization).
Results: Differences with statistical significance (p<0.05) have been obtained when comparing: the use of mouthwash before and during hospitalization (p<0.000) and the use of dental floss in the same periods (p=0.016), with a noticeable decrease during hospitalization. The correlation between the use of dental floss before hospitalization and the average family monthly income (p=0.006), showed that its use was greater above 2 minimum monthly salaries.
Conclusion: It was found that the oral hygiene habits and practices have decreased over the period of stay namely on the use of auxiliary methods of plaque control and dental floss. The use of dental floss before hospitalization and the average family monthly income increases from the 2 minimum monthly salaries.