ORAL HYGIENE HABITS AND DENTAL-HEALTH AWARENESS OF KENYAN CHILDREN AGED 9-15 YEARS IN A PERIURBAN AND URBAN SCHOOL

The oral hygiene habits and dental health awareness of 541 Kenyan chil dren from a peri-urban and urban school and aged 9-15 years, were inve stigated. 80.2% of the urban children and 43.1% of the peri-urban chil dren had visited a dentist before. 12.4% of the urban children and 9.2 % of the peri-urban children knew that bacteria cause dental caries. O ver 87% of the children from either school knew that dental caries and periodontitis can be prevented. The main reason for visiting a dentis t was to have tooth extraction. Failure to brush teeth was believed to be the cause of gingival bleeding by 38.9% of the peri-urban children and 37.6% of the urban children. 67.2% of the peri-urban children and 39.5% of the urban children brushed their teeth thrice daily.21.1% of the peri-urban children and 2% of the urban children used a chewing s tick to brush their teeth. More urban children (96.5%) used a toothbru sh than peri-urban children (64.8%). None of the children from either school admitted using traditional cleaning aids such as the ringer and charcoal. It is concluded that there were no consistent differences i n oral hygiene habits and dental health awareness between peri-urban a nd urban children.