The Effect of Socio-economic status on the Oral Hygiene of Elementary School Children in the City of Dammam, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The purpose of this paper was to determine the status of the oral health of children compared to the socioeconomic status (SES) of the parents in the city of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Three schools were targeted based on the SES levels; two private schools and one governmental school. The sample size was 40 boys from each school all of them 5 th grade students. The dependent variable was the oral hygiene status of the children and the independent variables were the school type (governmental or private), parents’ education and socioeconomic status. Community SES was significantly related to oral hygiene status. Overall, oral health was significantly worse for low SES communities. There is a direct relationship between SES and oral hygiene status of children in elementary schools in the community of Dammam, Saudi Arabia. In which high caries prevalence was seen with children attending public school. KeywordsOral Hygiene, Dental, Socio-economic. INTRODUCTION Good oral health is a goal that is only achieved by having all the “correct” items to fulfill that goal. These items that are highly related to having a good oral health are proper oral hygiene practice, welleducated people and neighborhood of residency. Moreover, Socio-economic status (SES) is a description of a person’s societal status using factors or measurements such as income level, relationship to the national poverty line, educational achievement and neighborhood of residency. 1 Poor SES has been a known risk factor to poor oral health. Numerous studies were conducted, In which Gillcrist, Brumley and Blackford concluded that community SES was significantly related to caries experience in the primary teeth, the proportion of untreated caries in the primary and permanent teeth, dental treatment needs, dental sealants and incisor trauma. Overall, dental health was significantly worse for low-SES communities than for mediumand high-SES communities. 2 Also, Reisine and Poster said that underlying mechanisms may not be well understood, low SES may serve clinicians as a marker for increased risk of caries. 3 In addition, Poverty in at least one stage of the lifespan has a harmful effect on dental caries, oral behaviors and dental services use. Belonging to upwardly mobile families between childhood and adolescence only contributed to improved dental care. 4 Moreover, Rosa said that the higher SES receives more dental care than the low SES. www.jmscr.igmpublication.org Impact Factor 5.244 Index Copernicus Value: 5.88 ISSN (e)-2347-176x ISSN (p) 2455-0450 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v4i6.65