Table 2.
Oral hygiene practices among the primary schoolchildren by sociodemographic factors (in percentages).
| Oral hygiene practices | All respondents (n = 409) | Gender | Residence | Age group (years) | Parents' highest level of education | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male (n = 193) | Female (n = 216) | Urban (n = 209) | Rural (n = 200) | (11–12) (n = 172) | (13–14) (n = 237) | ≤1o (n = 149) | ≥2o (n = 260) | ||
| Q1. Care to your teeth? How? | |||||||||
| Tooth brushing | 91.4 | 90.7 | 92.1 | 95.7 | 87.0 ∗∗ | 93.6 | 89.9 | 85.2 | 95.0 ∗∗ |
| Rinsing with water | 10.3 | 10.4 | 10.2 | 3.3 | 17.5 ∗∗∗ | 9.9 | 10.5 | 18.1 | 5.8 ∗∗∗ |
| Using finger | 9.8 | 10.4 | 9.3 | 2.4 | 17.5 ∗∗∗ | 18.1 | 11.0 | 19.5 | 4.2 ∗∗∗ |
| Not brushing | 1.0 | 1.0 | 9.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.2 |
|
| |||||||||
| Q2. Tooth cleaning devices? | |||||||||
| Plastic toothbrush | 91.9 | 91.2 | 92.6 | 96.7 | 87.0 ∗∗∗ | 94.2 | 90.3 | 86.6 | 95.0 ∗∗ |
| Chewing stick both plastic and chew stick | 24.9 | 24.9 | 25.0 | 1.9 | 49.0 ∗∗∗ | 16.3 | 31.2 ∗∗ | 46.3 | 12.7 ∗∗∗ |
| Cleaning with a finger | 9.0 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 2.4 | 16.0 ∗∗∗ | 8.1 | 9.7 | 15.4 | 5.4 ∗∗ |
| Just rinsing | 14.2 | 11.9 | 16.2 | 2.4 | 26.5 ∗∗∗ | 11.0 | 16.5 | 29.5 | 5.4 ∗∗∗ |
|
| |||||||||
| Q3. Time to do tooth brushing? | |||||||||
| Before breakfast | 91.9 | 90.2 | 93.5 | 90.0 | 94.0 | 87.2 | 95.4 ∗∗ | 94.0 | 90.8 |
| Meal-time | 18.6 | 18.1 | 19.0 | 7.7 | 30.0 ∗∗∗ | 15.7 | 20.7 | 32.9 | 10.4 ∗∗∗ |
| When going to bed | 24.9 | 27.5 | 22.7 | 17.2 | 33.0 ∗∗∗ | 20.9 | 27.8 | 33.6 | 20.0 ∗∗ |
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| Q4. Tooth cleaning frequency? | |||||||||
| Once/day | 21.5 | 23.8 | 19.4 | 23.4 | 19.5 | 22.1 | 21.1 | 19.5 | 22.7 |
| Twice/day | 27.9 | 28.0 | 27.8 | 29.2 | 26.5 | 30.8 | 25.7 | 28.2 | 27.7 |
| Three times/day | 48.7 | 45.6 | 51.4 | 46.4 | 51.0 | 45.3 | 51.1 | 49.0 | 48.5 |
| Once a week | 2.0 | 2.1 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.5 |
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| |||||||||
| Q5. Use of dentifrices-type? | |||||||||
| Toothpaste | 78.2 | 77.2 | 79.2 | 91.9 | 64.0 ∗∗∗ | 85.5 | 73.0 | 62.4 | 87.3 ∗∗∗ |
| Salt | 16.4 | 16.7 | 316.7 | 8.1 | 25.0 ∗∗∗ | 16.9 | 16.0 | 24.2 | 11.9 ∗∗ |
| Ashes | 21.0 | 21.2 | 20.8 | 3.3 | 39.5 ∗∗∗ | 18.6 | 22.8 | 36.2 | 12.3 ∗∗∗ |
| Sand | 8.3 | 8.3 | 8.3 | 1.9 | 15.0 ∗∗∗ | 5.8 | 10.1 | 15.4 | 4.2 ∗∗∗ |
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| Q6. Tongue cleaning? (yes) | 70.2 | 66.3 | 73.6 | 84.7 | 55.0 ∗∗∗ | 77.9 | 64.6 ∗∗ | 55.0 | 78.8 ∗∗∗ |
≤1°: primary school education and below; ≥2°: secondary school education and above. Statistically significant differences between the categories: ∗∗∗ = P < 0.001, ∗∗ = P < 0.01, and ∗ = P < 0.05. No asterisk: statistically not significant (NS).