Can Implementing Public–Private Partnership Model in Primordial Prevention of Dental Hygiene among Primary School Children be a Remedy?

Dental caries and periodontal disease are the two common dental diseases of children in India. Prophylactic cleansing is of great value in preventing dental diseases.

To assess the prevalence of caries, knowledge and practice of cleaning the teeth in the age group of 6–12 years among rural and urban school children. To suggest a suitable model to improve the dental hygiene in an Indian scenario.

Urban and rural schools, descriptive, cross sectional, comparative observational study.

It was a study among primary school children of rural and urban area through oral examination and questionnaire.

SPSS21, Fisher's Chi-square exact test.

Rural government primary school –68% of primary class children did not know the correct technique of brushing. 20% of students still used hands for cleansing their teeth. The prevalence of caries was found to be 54% in the age group of 6–12 yrs. Urban school – 54% did not know the correct technique of brushing. The habit of brushing teeth at night was found only in 30%. The prevalence of caries was found to be 44% in the age group of 6–12 yrs.

Over all, the knowledge of dental hygiene was low in both the rural and urban primary school children. This lacuna can be overcome if public–private partnership model is implemented in school health services, by posting dental interns at primary schools on rotation for providing primordial dental prevention.