Deleterious Oral Habits among School Going Children - A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: The present study was conducted to access the prevalence of deleterious oral habits among school going children as these practices have a great impact on the dental hard and soft tissues. Methodology: This study was conducted among children aged between 7 to 13 years. The sample was selected from urban and rural schools. A closed-ended questionnaire was used in the survey for collecting the information like age, gender, area of residence and presence of deleterious oral habits. These questions were asked to parents for the habits like bruxism, tongue thrusting, digital sucking, mouth breathing, nail biting and lip biting. Chi-square test compared the frequency of oral habits in relation to age, sex and area. Statistical tests were used at a significance level of p<0.05. Results: It was noticed that bruxism (14.4%) was most common habit followed by mouth breathing (12.6%), digital sucking (9.2%), nail biting (8.3%), lip biting (8.1%) and tongue thrusting (7.2%). Bruxism (4.7%) and tongue thrusting (3.4%) had the highest occurrence in (9 to 11 years) group. Digital sucking (3.6%) and mouth breathing (6.3%) was mostly observed among younger age group (7 to 9 years). However nail biting (4.3%) and lip biting (4.7%) was commonly noticed in older sample. Conclusion: The study observed that bruxism was most frequent habit among children. There was also a variation in the occurrence of oral habits in relation to age.