Introduction. As oral hygiene and nutritional habits are significant factors that influence caries development in children and adolescents, their regular assessment and correction of improper health behaviours are absolutely necessary. Objective. The assessment of oral health behaviours of 12- and 13-year‑old children, living in the urban area of Lodz, who participated in The Urban Programme of Caries Prophylaxis for Children and Adolescents. Material and methods. 975 children aged 12 and 13 years were interviewed on the basis of a 9-question survey regarding oral health behaviors. Results. Only 55% of the 12- and 13-year-olds reported seeing a dentist within the previous 6 months. 28% of the examined children feared a visit to the dentist’s office. Children whose reason for the last dental visit was pain (7.09% of the examined children) or tooth extraction (11.32% of the children) were more likely to be afraid of attending the dentist- (OR = 2.13; p = 0.000009). It was revealed that children who report dental fear were more likely to attend the dentist with a lower frequency – the last visit more than one year or more than 2 years ago (OR = 2.71; p = 0.000000). The proportion of children claiming to brush teeth twice a day or more was 70.62%, although dental flossing was reported only by 18.38% of the children. The use of dental floss was more common in girls than in boys (23.03% vs. 12.73%, p = 0.000). Everyday consumption of sweets was reported by 86.63% of 12- and 13-year‑olds, and 11.9% of them ate sweets 3 to 4 times a day. 58.5% of examined adolescents bought sweet products in school shops. Conclusions. Low proportion of 12- and 13-year-olds who use additional oral hygiene agents and high proportion of children eating sweets between meals confirm the need for introduction of caries preventive programs for children in the period of permanent second molar eruption. Such programs should be a compliment to early health education of young children with a particular focus on introducing proper hygienic and nutritional habits, and to parental education toward maintenance of child oral health. Preventive programs might also help to produce regular dental attendance pattern and reduce the number of children visiting dentist due to pain, and of those with dental fear.

Key words: hygienic habits, dietary habits, 12- and 13-year –old children.