Oral and dental health in children with permanent dentition

The great role of oral health in maintaining good overall health in people today is fully recognized and accepted. Oral morbidity is a state of disease of the oral cavity in which there is a disruption of the harmony and biological balance in the interaction of external and internal factors as well as a disruption of normal events in the oral cavity. Oral and dental hygiene is one of the most important factors and measures for promoting and preserving oral health. The task of oral hygiene is to remove from the mouth substances that can have a harmful effect on hard dental tissues, oral mucosa and periodontal tissues. In the oral environment with neglected oral hygiene and the presence of dental plaque, tartar and concrements, in addition to the occurrence of dental caries and periodontal diseases, other pathological processes are possible that are absent in people who maintain proper and regular oral hygiene. Driven by this awareness of the great importance of dental health, we aimed our research at determining whether there is a correlation between dental health and possible risk factors in different social environments, one of which is oral hygiene. The main goal of this research is to determine the correlation between the state of oral and dental health of permanent teeth and the type of settlements in which students from rural-urban dimensions live and to indicate possible inequality in health among schoolchildren in the mentioned municipalities and to determine the habits of maintaining oral hygiene and registration of the oral hygiene index. The set goals were realized by performing systematic dental examinations on 472 students aged 12-15 years of both sexes from primary schools in the city of Shtip and from schools in rural settlements in the vicinity of the city. According to the results obtained for the frequency of oral hygiene habits of the respondents from the city of Shtip, 1.03% never brushed their teeth and 9.39% of the respondents from the surrounding area, 5.15% of the respondents from Shtip and 19.88% of the respondents from the surrounding area brushed their teeth irregularly, 45.36% of the respondents from Shtip and 24.31% of the respondents from the surrounding area brushed their teeth once a day, 32.02% of the respondents from Shtip and 39.23% of the respondents from the surrounding area brushed their teeth in the evening and in the morning, and 25.42% of the respondents from Shtip and 7.18% of the respondents from the surrounding area brushed their teeth after each meal. The results for the hygiene habits of the respondents indicate the existence of a very high statistical difference between the values of the two groups of respondents when it comes to the respondents who never brushed their teeth (p<0.001). The results of our research indicate the interaction of multiple factors not equal for urban and rural environments and the need for systematic and continuous dental education and application of all available preventive measures for protection against caries and periodontal diseases. Keywords: oral hygiene, dental caries, permanent dentition