title: Assessment of gingival health among school children in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study evaluated the gingival condition among school going children in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates and determined its relationship with tooth brushing frequency, diet and dental caries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four hundred and five children participated in the study. There were 232 boys (57%) and 173 (43%) girls. Children were grouped based on age as ≤6 years (n = 84) mean age 4.72 ± 0.50 and >6 years (n = 321) mean age 8.47 ± 1.65. The amount of dental plaque and gingival condition were assessed on the inner and outer surface of six index teeth using Silness and Loe and Loe and Silness criteria. Dental caries status was assessed using WHO 1997 criteria. Dental examination, tooth brushing frequency and 24 h diet chart were recorded by calibrated dentists. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of gingivitis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Increase in decayed, missing, and filled teeth values corresponds to increase in plaque index and gingival index scores (P ≤ 0.05). A logistic regression analysis of the predictors of gingivitis showed that males were 2.11 times less likely to have gingivitis compared with females (odds ratio [OR]: 0.47,95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.24-0.93, P = 0.03) and children aged ≤6 years were 3.06 times less likely to have gingivitis than those aged >6 years (OR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.17-0.62, P = 0.00). Tooth brushing frequency and diet were not significant predictors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Current study clearly demonstrated that female gender and children more than 6 years were more likely to have gingivitis.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Specialist Dental Practice, College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Vellore Kannan
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Gopinath
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Specialist Dental Practice, College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Betul
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Specialist Dental Practice, College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Manal A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Awad
keywords: Dental caries; gingival index; gingivitis; plaque index; school children