Oral hygiene and dietary habits among primary school children,in Urban Karachi

Objective: to measure the occurrence of oral hygiene habits and dietary practices in 6 - 12 years old children,to set a bench mark for later studies on similar groups. study type: cross sectional study. subjects,materials and methods: the data was collected through self responding questionnaires sent to the parents of primary school children from urban karachi. we received 610 appropriately filled forms. inclusion criteria were student age and parental consent to provide information. there were no exclusion criteria,except to exclude grossly incomplete forms. results: we observed a comparable mix of practice patterns as we match up the results with similar national and international studies. there were no discrete extremes of prevalence,either of poor or of good habits and/or practices. conclusion: we concluded that in such a diversity of practices,particularly at a crucial stage of life (being transition to permanent dentition and habit formation),school children could substantially benefit from interventions like prevention programs.