Oral Health Disparities in 6-9 years old Pakistani School Going Children

Abstract

Introduction.\xa0Pakistan, a developing Asian country, faces many challenges in delivering oral health needs. The main problem of Pakistani population especially in rural area, where majority of population resides, is lack of education, of which children constitute significant percentage.\xa0Objectives. The purpose of this study was to assess the oral health status and oral hygiene habits of 6- 9 years old school going children who belonged to posh and less posh areas and those who were residing in Rawalpindi but belonged to rural areas.\xa0Methods.The study population consisted of 30 school going children of both sexes which were selected by convenience sampling technique. The survey was based on WHO, oral assessment form for children 2015.\xa0Results.\xa0Evaluation of the oral health status revealed that poor oral hygiene habits were more prevalent in those schoolchildren whose parents had no or little educational background.Conclusions. It may be concluded that at an early age, greatest need of dental health education including proper instruction of oral hygiene practices and school based preventive programs, would help children in improving preventive dental behaviour and attitude which is beneficial for their life time.