The study was conducted to determine the oral hygiene pattern in primary school children as reported by their mother through questionnaire used in epidemiological studies.

The study was conducted by Department of Pedodontic and Preventive Children Dentistry, Institute of Dental Sciences, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India. The children received dental examinations, and their mothers were interviewed at home. The gold standard for oral hygiene was the simplified oral hygiene index. The mothers answered questions related to their child's oral hygiene, including daily tooth brushing, tooth brushing before sleeping and the combination of the two (oral hygiene). These responses were dichotomized into regular and irregular. The validity was determined by calculating the percentages and respective 95% confidence intervals for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value.

The overall prevalence of dental plaque was 38.3%. Just over half (54.6%) of the children were boys. Approximately, 80% of the mothers reported that their children brushed their teeth twice or more per day; however, 42.7% of the children presented oral hygiene pattern considered irregular. Plaque was higher among those with an irregular daily brushing pattern (49.8%, 95% CI 43.5; 56.1) and irregular oral hygiene (42.2%, 95% CI 37.7; 46.6) than among those in the regular categories.

Oral hygiene questions answered by mothers of primary school going children are not an appropriate substitute for direct oral hygiene assessment by the clinical examination of dental plaque.

Dwivedi S, Mittal M, Vashisth P, Jaiswal D, Arora S. Oral Hygiene Pattern observed in Primary School Children as Reported by Their Mother: A Longitudinal Study. World J Dent 2012;3(4):308-312.