The oral health knowledge and hygiene practices among primary school children aged 5 - 17 years in a rural area of Uasin Gishu District, Kenya

Abstract

This paper aims at determining the oral health knowledge and oral hygiene practices among school children in the study region. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study carried out among primary school children in Kapsaret Educational division, Uasin-Gishu District, Kenya. A research administered questionnaire was used to determine the oral health knowledge and practices in a random sample of 401 students in the period March to June, 2002. 92% of the students claimed they brushed their teeth, about 48% brushed at least twice daily. More students (59.1%) reported using chewing stick compared to those using commercial toothbrushes (p = 0.000). Female students brushed more frequently than their male counterparts (p = 0.000, 2 = 24.65). 39.9% of the students knew the cause of tooth decay, 48.2% could state at least one method of prevention, while 16.5% knew the importance of teeth. Use of toothpaste was reported by 38.9% of the students. Less than half of the students knew the causes of tooth decay and how to prevent it. Only about half of the students brushed their teeth twice daily with the chewing stick being more frequently used. Therefore, it was recommended that there is need to increase the oral health knowledge through well planned school based oral health education programmes in the primary schools. This would hopefully lead to improvement on the oral hygiene practices.