Dental plaque, caries prevalence and gingival conditions of 14-15-year-old schoolchildren in Jerash District, Jordan.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to evaluate oral hygiene, gingival condition and dental caries prevalence in 14-15-year-old school children in Jerash District, Northern Jordan. Twenty schools (10 male and 10 female schools) with 1362 children of eighth and ninth grades were randomly selected and incorporated in this study. All participants had dental examinations for oral hygiene, gingival condition and dental caries experience using the Silness and Löe Plaque Index (PI), Löe and Silness Gingival Index (GI), and decayed (D), missing (M) and filled (F) teeth (DMFT) and surface (DMFS) codes respectively. The results showed that males had significant lower plaque but significantly higher gingival scores than females (P < 0.001). About 24% of children were caries-free. The proportions of children with one, two or three decayed teeth were between 10% and 18%. Slight non-significant variations between males and females were observed in regard to DMFT/S and their components (P < 0.05). It is concluded that significant gender variations were noted in PI and GI scores but not in DMFT/S or their components. However, the values of these clinical scores were lower than those results previously reported in northern Jordan.