Oral Health Practices Among Primary School Students in in Derna City/Libya: A Cross- Sectional Survey

Objectives: Oral disease is a major public health problem with a high prevalence and incidence among school children, especially in low-income populations. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices of primary school children towards oral health and dental care as well as to evaluate the factors that determine these variables.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 965 primary school students of 11 schools located in Derna city, Libya from February to May 2015. Government and Private schools were selected by Systematic random sampling method. All subjects were asked to complete a comprehensive questionnaire adopted from Peterson et al.(2000) and Stenberg et al.(2000). Investigators explained the questionnaire and the students independently filled up the questionnaire without given their names.

Results: The data were coded and analysed using SPSS 21.0. 965 students successfully completed the questionnaire. The school children included 476 females (49.3%) and 466 males (48.3 %). School children age ranged from 8 to 17 years old with a mean age of 11.86 ±1.94 years. The result of this study show that only 46.9% of the school students brushes their teeth at least twice daily while 26.6% reported regular brushing once daily. Only 7.7% reported that they were visited dentist regular, while only 53.9 % of the school children visited dentist only when they got dental pain.

Conclusions: There is a lack of knowledge and careless attitude among school children in regard to oral health. Children need to be motivated regarding the importance of oral health in school and home.