The Gingival Health of Eight-Year-Old Nigerian Children*

A total of 860 eight-year-old schoolchildren in Lagos Nigeria, were examined between April 1981 and March 1982: 409 from private schools and 451 from government schools. Half were boys and the other half were girls. The mean Gingival Index score for children in private schools is 0.4 and 0.5 in the government schools. The GI score was slightly higher for boys than for girls in each group. The prevalence of calculus (24.7 percent) and gingivitis (46.5 percent) in the private schoolchildren is significantly lower than that found in the government schoolchildren (59.6 percent and 61.6 percent respectively) (p values < 0.002). The mean OHI-S score is lower in the private schools (0.8 for boys and 0.7 for girls) than in the government school (1.1 for both boys and girls). These findings suggest better oral hygiene habits in the higher socioeconomic group of private schoolchildren. Among the boys, 47.3 percent had calculus and 52.2 percent had gingivitis while 38.7 percent of the girls had calculus and 56.6 percent had gingivitis. Overall, 43 percent of the children examined had calculus, 54.4 percent had gingivitis. The mean GI Score was 0.4 and the mean OHI Score was 1.0. The results indicate a trend toward a lower prevalence of gingivitis and better oral hygiene among Nigerian children now when compared with studies reported two decades ago.