OBJECTIVE: To relate the occurrence of swallowing disorders and oral hygiene by clinical assessment of risk for dysphagia. METHODOLOGY: Cross-sectional study retrospective analytical and quantitative. The target population consisted of all patient records contained in the database of the Laboratory of Dysphagia, University Hospital of Santa Maria. RESULTS: 94 individuals, 50 (53.1%) were male. Of these women, 9 (20.4%) had normal swallowing, and of these 4 (44.4%) had inadequate oral hygiene, 21 had functional deglutition, 10 (47.7%) with inadequate oral hygiene, 6 had mild dysphagia, these, two (44.4%) with inadequate oral hygiene, 2 with mild to moderate dysphagia, all with proper hygiene, and 6 with severe dysphagia, and two (44.4%) presented oral hygiene changed. 14 men (28%) had mild dysphagia, including 6 (42.8%) had changed oral hygiene, 4 (8%) with dysphagia mild to moderate - 3 (75%) impaired oral hygiene, 4 ( 8%) with moderate dysphagia, while two (50%) with impaired oral hygiene and 3 (6%) with severe dysphagia, and 2 (66.6%) had poor oral hygiene. CONCLUSION: there was, respectively, a predominant percentage of normal swallowing, severe dysphagia and swallowing function in females, and mild dysphagia, mild to moderate and moderate for males. It was noted inadequacies in oral hygiene for practically all the degrees of dysphagia, in both genders, indicating the importance of establishing this parameter in order to check for possible losses generated at the patient's overall clinical status.