Oral Hygiene Status of Students in Selected Secondary Schools in Osogbo, Nigeria

Abstract

The essence of oral hygiene is to prevent the accumulation of dental plaque on the teeth and other dental appliances in the mouth. Thus preventing the development of oral diseases associated with its accumulation such as dental caries, gingivitis, periodontitis and halitosis (bad breath). The objective of the study was to determine the oral hygiene status of students in selected secondary schools in Osogbo. A cross - sectional descriptive study of the oral hygiene status of students in selected secondary schools in Osogbo, Nigeria was carried out. Two private and two public schools were selected for the study through simple random sampling from Osogbo Local Government Area. Self-administered structured questionnaires were used to collect data on age, sex, educational level, knowledge on oral hygiene and oral hygiene habits of the students. Dental examination was carried out using dental probes and mouth mirrors, based on the use of Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S)). A total of three hundred and thirty two (332) secondary school students were examined in the selected schools from the results. Majority of the respondents (86.8% )were in the 0.00-1.00 range of OHI-S connoting good oral hygiene while 1.2% had scores in the 4.01-6.00 range connoting poor oral hygiene. It is concluded that the high level of oral hygiene observed in this study is due probably to the dental education that is usually given these students by the visiting Dental Nurses that make regular visits to these schools. This needs be sustained by maintaining the regular Dental Nurses visits.

Keywords: Oral hygiene, secondary school students, Nigeria

The Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 51 (4) 2007: pp. 71-75