Oral hygiene, periodontal status and treatment needs among 12-year-old students, Castro, Chile, 2014.

The present study aims to determine the level of oral hygiene, periodontal status and treatment needs, indicating if there are differences between men and women, in 12-year-old students from Castro, Los Lagos region, during March and April of 2014. A cross-sectional study was carried out. A total of 242 12-year-old students from municipal and subsidized private schools in Castro were selected through a stratified random sample representative of each school. Students were evaluated by a calibrated examiner to determine the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) and the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN). Data were transferred to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and statistically analyzed to calculate the amount and percentage of the variables. Mann-Whitney U-test was used for comparison between genders. From the total, 59.5% of the students have regular hygiene. Also, 86.4% of the assessed adolescents have gingivitis and 13.6% of them have periodontitis. The periodontal treatment need indicates that 58% of the students require oral hygiene instructions and scaling. No statistically significant differences were found for gender. There is a higher prevalence of periodontal diseases associated with regular oral hygiene than the regional and national reference in 12-year-old adolescents in Castro. Then, it is necessary to teach and promote specific public health strategies based on epidemiological dat