Table 2.
Oral hygiene practices in relation to sex and age
| Oral Hygiene practices | Sex | P-value | Age (yrs) | P-value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | 10–12 | 13–15 | 16–19 | |||
| N (%) | N (%) | ||||||
| Frequency of tooth brushing | |||||||
| Two or more times a day | 55 (64.7%) | 52 (70.3%) | 0.72 | 29 (60.4%) | 47 (70.1%) | 31 (70.5%) | 0.59 |
| Less than twice daily | 30 (35.5%) | 22 (29.8%) | 19 (39.6%) | 20 (29.9%) | 13 (29.5%) | ||
| Adjunct toothbrush devices | |||||||
| Wooden toothpicks | 40 (40%) | 60 (60%) | 0.42 | 20 (26.0%) | 27 (27%) | 47 (47%) | 0.74 |
| Plastic Toothpicks | 0 (0%) | 2 (100%) | 0.34a | 0 (0%) | 1 (50%) | 1 (50%) | 0.48a |
| Dental Floss | 5 (62.5%) | 3 (37.5%) | 0.57 | 1 (2.5%) | 2 (25%) | 5 (62.5%) | 0.08 |
| Charcoal | 4 (44.4%) | 5 (55.6%0 | 0.10 | 2 (22.2%) | 4 (44.4%) | 3 (33.3%) | 0.31 |
| Chew stick/mswaki | 19 (47.5%) | 21 (52.5%) | 0.50 | 10 (25%) | 18 (45%) | 12 (30%) | 0.74 |
| Use of fluoridate toothpaste | |||||||
| Yes | 2 (2.4%) | 2 (2.7%) | 0.97a | 1 (2.1%) | 1 (1.5%) | 2 (4.5%) | 0.50a |
| No | 4 (4.7%) | 3 (4.1%) | 1 (2.1%) | 5 (7.5%) | 1 (2.3%) | ||
| Don’t know | 79 (92.9%) | 69 (93.2%) | 46 (95.8%) | 61 (91%) | 41 (93.2%) | ||
| Mouth rinsing after meals | |||||||
| Yes | 72 (84.7%) | 65 (89%) | 0.71a | 45 (93.8%) | 57 (85.1%) | 35 (81.4%) | 0.12a |
| No | 7 (8.2%) | 4 (5.5%) | 1 (2.1%) | 6 (9.0%) | 4 (9.3%) | ||
| Seldom | 6 (7.1%) | 4 (5.5%) | 2 (3.04%) | 4 (42.4%) | 4 (27.2%) | ||
| Frequency of toothbrush replacement | |||||||
| < 3 months | 4 (4.7%) | 9 (12.2%) | 0.04*a | 0 (0%) | 7 (10.4%) | 6 (13.9%) | < 0.001* |
| 3 months | 37 (43.5%) | 29 (39.2%) | 14 (29.2%) | 31 (46.3%) | 21 (47.7%) | ||
| > 3 months | 39 (45.9%) | 24 (32.4%) | 24 (32.4%) | 21 (47.7%) | 16 (36.4%) | ||
| Not sure | 5 (5.9%) | 10 (20.8%) | 10 (20.8%) | 16 (36.4%) | 19 (2.3%) | ||
*p ≤ 0.05
aFisher exact test