Abstract
The aim of the study is to evaluate the oral hygiene and gingival health and to identify if there is any variation between sex and age group among adolescents and adult population in rural area (sharkhan village), in Ninevah governorate. A sample of 203 individuals aged 1-44 years (84 males and 119 females) were examined using plaque index score by silness and loe (1964) and gingival index by loe and silness (1963). The results show that mean plaque score for total sample is (1.29), the plaque index was increase with age, the females reported less mean plaque score than male, however, there was no statistically significant difference of oral hygiene by sex. The mean gingival score was moderate (1.26) for total sample and it was increase with age significantly, the mean gingival score was slightly better in females in females than males with statistical significant between them. The study revealed that about (50%) of the total sample did not brush their teeth or brush infrequently. Therefore the objective of dental health education to those subjects is to brush their teeth regularly and to improve the effectiveness of oral hygiene practice.
