Assessment of oral cleanliness and gingival condition among intermediate Thamarian school students

Aims: To evaluate the oral cleanliness and gingival health among intermediate school students and to find if there was any variation between age and sex groups in Thamar–Yemen. Material and Methods: A sample of 596 students aged 13–15 years old (308 males, 288 females) were examined using plaque index score by Silness and Löe (1964) and gingival index by Löe and Silness (1963). The clinical examinations were carried out in the school using plane mouth mirrors, WHO periodontal probes to detect the dental plaque and gingival health. Results: The mean plaque score for the total sample was 0.90. The plaque index was increasing with age, females reported less mean plaque scores than males with statistically significant difference between them. The mean gingival score was 0.52 for the total sample and it was increasing with age with statistical significant difference. Females also reported less gingival scores than males with statistical significant difference between them. The study revealed that 45.1 % of the total sample did not brush their teeth. Conclusion: Gingival and periodontal diseases are indirectly related to the exposure of bacterial plaque for long time which calls for integrated, coordinated planning of preventive and treatment services as an urgent priority.