Six hundred and seventy-three school children from the age of 3 to 20 living in the urban and the rural areas of Nigeria were examined by the Joint Dental Epidemiological Survey in 1986. The survey was funded by the Grant-in Aid from the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, and was conducted by both the Japanese survey team and the staff from the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The periodontal state of the children was evaluated according to the Community Periodontal Index for Treatment Needs (CPITN) by WHO (1).The prevalence of periodontal diseases was found to be 84.2% within the sample with a high occurrence of gingivitis and heavy deposits of calculus. However, there was little evidence of damage to the periodontal tissues. This can be attributed to the nature of their diet. The results suggested that there would be an increasing need for well-planned and organized public educational programs for the Nigerian children to promote better Oral hygiene coupled with parental involvement in the prevention at home
