Quantitative Assessment of Oral Hygiene Habits of 12-15 years old school children of Hayatabad Peshawar: Pilot study

Aim: The purpose of this study was to assess the oral hygiene habits of school children aged 12 to 15 years.Materials and methods: A pilot study with a cross sectional study design was conducted to assess the oral hygiene habits. Atotal of 125 school children aged 12-15 years participated in the study. A written informed consent was obtained from the schooland participants before participation in the study. An interviewer-administered calibrated questionnaire was used for data collection. The data was statistically analyzed with SPSS version 25 and descriptive statistics were used to present data.Results: Out of the total, majority of participants were of aged 12 years (45%) followed by 13(33%), 14(17%) and 15(6%),respectively with equal gender distribution. Nearly half of school children brushed their teeth frequently twice a day (46%),almost 37.6% brushed once a day and one-tenth of children did not brush their teeth at all. Almost three-quarter of childrenbrushed before (38%) and after (35%) breakfast. Forty-nine percent of children preferred soft bristled toothbrush, while 28%  used medium type and 23% used hard bristled toothbrush for cleaning teeth, respectively. Majority of school children usedtoothpaste as cleaning agent (87%).All the children changed their toothbrushes with highest percentage changing after onemonth (84%). Majority children (84%) never flossed their teeth. More children had never visited dentist than those who visited.Conclusion: Children had limited oral health knowledge which was reason for their unsatisfactory oral hygiene habits.