A Citywide Assessment of Oral Hygiene Needs of 5- to 7-Year-Old Children

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess the oral hygiene needs of 6,957 kindergarten and first-grade children enrolled in the San Bernardino City Unified School District. The findings from this study revealed that 9 percent of first-graders did not own a toothbrush, 15 percent shared a toothbrush and 25.3 percent self-reported mouth pain. In one school, 30 percent of the first-graders did not own a toothbrush and overall 38 percent of kindergarteners shared a toothbrush.