[Oral hygiene customs in 6-12 year old schoolchildren]

OBJECTIVE. To characterize utilization of oral hygiene devices and customs in schoolchildren. MATERIAL AND METHODS. We performed a cross-sectional study in 1,404 schoolchildren (6- 12 year olds) from 14 public schools in Pachuca, Hidalgo, México, using a questionnaire for sociodemographic variables and 1) Tooth brushing frequency (<1/d vs. at least 1/d), 2) Use of toothpaste (not always vs. always), 3) Flossing (never, does not know vs. at least 1/week), 4) Use of mouthwash (never, does not know vs. at least 1/week). Analyses were performed with nonparametric tests. RESULTS. Mean age was 8.97 ± 1.99 years; 50.1% were male. Prevalence of utilization of oral hygiene devices and associated customs were 85.5% tooth brushing, 90.9% toothpaste, 19.4% flossing, and 28.2% mouthwash. Only 11.8% of participants reported utilization in all 4 categories. We observed differences (p < 0.05) across sexes only in the use of toothpaste, as women used it more often. Differences across age were observed (p < 0.05) for tooth brushing (younger children brushed more often) and flossing (older children flossed more often). CONCLUSIONS. Tooth brushing was the oral hygiene practice more often performed in this sample, with other frequencies being relatively low. There were differences by age and sex across some variables.