Lower and higher socio-economical strata: Comparison of oral hygiene habits in children.

Brief Background Children from Municipal Corporation and Private schools in India generally come from lower and higher socio-economic strata in the society respectively. It was necessary to know the day-to-day oral hygiene habits followed by them. The study will thus evaluate and throw light on the areas of lacunae regarding oral care amongst the torch-bearers of the community. The necessary oral health awareness and motivation for oral hygiene can be programmed accordingly. Materials and Methods A short observational comparative study was undertaken with the distribution of the close-ended questionnaires to 50 age-matched subjects from both the schools. The data collected was represented in the graphical manner as per the ratings given to the questions with respect to their medical significance for comparison and statistical analysis. The "Z" test was applied to compare the proportions of the two independent groups. Results Barring only a few factors that contribute to oral health which were found better in Municipal Corporation School, the overall oral hygiene habits were found to be better rooted in the similar group of children from the Private School with statistical significance. Summary and Conclusions There is a drastic need to promote oral health education and dental check-up programs for the children of low socio-economic strata. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]