Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria

The study investigated the oral hygiene practices and prevalence of dental carries among school children (6 – 12 years) in Niger State, Nigeria. A total of 477 pupils constituting 246 boys and 231 girls were used in the study. Stratified randomly sampling was used in selecting pupils from 9 public primary schools based on high, middle and low socio –economic levels. Data obtained from this study was analysed using percentages and Chi-Square statistic at 0.05 level of significance. Results of the study revealed that, the practice of toothbrushing was not statisfactory among pupils for the reason that a large numbers of pupils 202 (42.3%) did not brush their teeth at all. Also the prevalence and the number of dental caries were greater in the pupils of low socio-economic areas (66.5%) than the others. The high and middle socio-economic areas had a similar overall prevalence of dental caries of 59.4% and 60.1% respectively. Toothbrushing behavior among the pupils was strongly related to the parental education and their socio economic statuses however, there was no statistical significance in the prevalence of dental caries among the socio-economic groups. Health education programmes such as, brushing of teeth twice daily, especially at night before going to bed to improve oral hygiene practices was therefore recommended.