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Abstract
Objective: to determine the prevalence of harmful oral habits among a group of Egyptian primary schoolchildren in Cairo governorate, Egypt. Subjects and Methods: An observational, cross-sectional, study was carried out where 624 students aged seven to ten years were examined for the presence or absence of different oral habits like digit sucking, lip and cheek biting, mouth breathing, bruxism, nail and pen biting and others. The study was conducted in 4 Egyptian schools (2 private and 2 public) in Abbasia district in Cairo, Egypt. The presence or absence of an oral habit was determined by a clinical examination performed by the examiner combined with a questionnaire filled by student{u2019}s parents/guardians. Results: The prevalence of oral habits among the whole sample was 60.9%. Nail biting habit was the most common habit 30.9% followed by biting on pens or hard objects 27.2%, mouth breathing 18.9%, cutting or opening objects with teeth was 17.6%, bruxism 13.6%, lip biting 11.2%, digit sucking 7.5% and rare other oral habits 1.3% and tongue thrusting 0.2 %. Conclusion: The most common oral habit was nail biting and tongue thrust was the least common oral habit. The prevalence of any oral habit among the whole sample was more common in private schools in comparison to public schools