The essence of oral hygiene is to prevenr tfze accumulation of dental plaque on the teeth and other dental
appliances in the mouth. Thus preventing the development of oral diseases associated with its accumulation such
as dental caries, gingivitis,periodontitis and halitosis (bad breuth). The objective of tfte study was to determine the
oral hygiene status of students in selected secondary schools in Osogbo. A cross - sectional descriptive study of the
oral hygiene status of students in selected secondary schools in Osogbo, Nigeria was carried out. Two private and
two public schools were selected for the study through simple random sampling from Osogbo Local Government
.Area ~~~~administered structured questionnaires were used to collect data on age, sex, educational level, knowledge
on oral hygiene and oral hygiene habits of the students. Dental examirzation was carried out using dental probes
and mouth mirrors, based on the use of Simplified Oral Hyziene Index (OHZ-S)). A total of three hundred and thirty
two (332) secondary school students were examined in the selected schools from the results. Majority of the
respondents (86.8% )were in the 0.00-1.00 range of OHI-S connoting good oral hygiene while 1.2% had scores in
the 4.01-6.00 range connoting poor oral hygiene. It is concluded that the high level of oral hygiene observed in
this study is due probably to the dental edr~cation that is usually given these students by the visiting Dental Nurses
that make regular visils to these schools. This needs be sustained by maintaining the regular Dental Nurses vkits.