Oral hygiene status of primary school children

Background: The purpose of using tooth cleaning aids like chewing stick, toothbrush with locally made powder or fluoride containing toothpaste, is to attain good oral hygiene compatible with good oral health. Aim: To determine the oral hygiene status of public primary school children in a rural community in South-east Nigeria. Methodology: A cross sectional descriptive study of primary school children was done in a public primary school in Nkanu -West local Government Area of Enugu State. Ethical clearance for this study was sought and obtained, all participants who gave their assent were recruited. Socio-demographic data was obtained using interviewer -administered questionnaire. Oral hygiene status was determined using simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S). After data collection, oral hygiene education and tooth brushing demonstrations were done. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20. P values < 0.05 were accepted as being statistically significant. Results: 57(46.3%) males, 66(53.7%) females were seen and examined, giving a male to female ratio of about 1:1.2. The age range of the participants was 8 to 14 years with a mean age of 10.2 ± 1.4 years. The mean OHI-S score was 1.5 ± 0.4. 80 (65.0%) had fair oral hygiene, 41(33.3%) had good oral hygiene while 2(1.7%) had poor oral hygiene status. Majority of the school children brush their teeth once daily, using the horizontal scrub technique. Conclusion: In this study, most of the school children had fair oral hygiene status. Good oral hygiene status was seen more among 9-10 year old children, while fair oral hygiene status was seen more among 10-11 year children. The association between oral hygiene status with age or gender was not statistically significant.