RESUMO
A cross sectional study, performed on 200 apparently healthy girls students, in the age group of 12, 13 and 14 years, 100 each from rural and urban schools of Peshawar is presented. They have been assessed for the gingival bleeding using community periodontal index of treatment need [CPITN]. It has been found out that all the subjects from both the urban and rural schools suffered from gingival bleeding, with a higher mean index for higher age group. Most of the subject 71.5% used tooth paste and 61.5% used to clean their teeth in the morning before break fast. It has been concluded that the common problem of gingival bleeding is due to plaque accumulation, which in turn is due to improper and inefficient cleaning method and unsuitable cleaning time. It is recommended that teachers and parents should give more emphasis on training the children to adapt habit of regular post break fast and post Dinner cleaning schedule, using tooth brush as mechanical device rather than using finger. The situation needs a broad based community screening and assessment using CPITN criterion