Hygienic habits and the dental condition in 12-year-old children.

PURPOSE The aim of the study was the description of the dental condition of hygienic routines in 12-year-old children in urban and rural areas of Lublin voivodship. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study comprised 274 children at the age of 12 (152 girls and 122 boys). 95 girls and 92 boys came from the urban area; 57 girls and 30 boys came from the rural area. RESULTS On the basis of clinical examination it was concluded that 11.96% of boys and 18.95% of girls from the urban area and 6.67% boys and 8.77% of girls from the rural area brush their teeth after every meal; 60.87% of boys and 68.42% of girls from the urban area and 43.33% of boys and 50.88% of girls from the rural area brush their teeth twice; 22.83% of boys and 11.58% of girls from the urban area and 26.67% of boys and 28.07% of girls from the rural area brush their teeth once daily. DMF count was for boys from the urban area--4.12/girls--3.92 and for boys from the rural area 4.50/girls--4.29. The treatment indicator was for boys from the urban area--0.56/ girls - 0.47 and for boys from the rural area 0.35/girls--0.67. CONCLUSIONS On the basis of the research conducted in the study, it was concluded that tooth brushing is more frequent with urban area children than in children from rural area. This leads to a conclusion that the action for improvement of the health awareness is a dire need among 12-year-olds both from urban and from rural areas.