Oral health status in Najaf City

Abstract

Background: This study assessed the oral hygiene status of teenagers.Materials and methods: Three hundred and two teenagers aged 13-16 years (151 boys and 151 girls) and 291 youngadults aged 20-23 years (150 males and 141 females) collected from secondary schools and the University of Kufa inNajaf city. Oral hygiene was assessed by three indices (plaque, gingival and calculus indices).Results: Plaque free subjects represented 22.3% of males and 44.2% of females with a mean PI of 0.717±0.742 formales and 0.444±0.619 for females. While, gingivitis was found in 68.1% of males and 46.6% of females with a meanGI of 0.436±0.526 for males and 0.255±0.447 for females. The majority of the sample was calculus free (91.1% offemales and 88.7% of males) with a mean CI of 0.020±0.081 for males and 0.014±0.056 for females.Conclusion: Males showed significantly higher mean PI, GI and CI scores than females. Teenagers were found tohave significantly higher mean PI and GI than young adults. This indicates that young adults are keener on keepinga good oral hygiene than teenagers and that males neglect their oral hygiene more than females