ASSESSMENT OF ORAL HYGIENE LEVEL AND EFFICIENCY OF DENTAL HYGIENE METHODS IN CHILDREN- CLINICAL STUDY

The aim of the study was to assess the oral hygiene levels and efficiency of common dental hygiene methods in a sample of patients aged between 7 and 14 years old, attending the Paedodontic Department from Carol Davila University, Bucharest. Material and methods. The clinical study was conducted on a sample of 30 patients (15 boys), aged 7 to 14 years old. For oral hygiene assessment S-OHI ( Simplified Oral Hygiene Index) were calculated with two components : S-DI ( Simplified Debris Index) and S-CI ( Simplified Calculus Index). The data obtained were processed using Microsoft Excel 2010 and Word programs. Results. The results of the first examination show that in the 7-10 years old age group boys had a worse oral hygiene than girls; in the 1114 years old age group boys register better results. S-OHI-2 scores show a significant improvement. Analysing the results after first month was noticed that in the 7-10 years old age group girls are achieving better oral hygiene, while in the 11-14 years old age group, boys were better. After the second month it was noticed that in the 7-10 years old age group girls proved to be better learners than boys: in the 11-14 years old age category, girls showed a discreet improvement, but did not equal the boys, who kept the same results.Conclusions Implementation of child oriented educational programs, individualised accor-ding to child’s age and clinical situation, based on a personalized and simple hygiene proto-col were recommended