Objective: To compare handrubbing and handwashing effectivity on total bacteria count on clinical students at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Universitas Sumatera Utara March - May 2018.Material and Methods: This is an experimental study with pre-test pos-ttest group design carried out by purposive sampling technique. In this study, sample were divided into 2 groups and each consist of 20 people which are handrubbing and handwashing groups. Bacterial samples were obtained by placing the right hand in a container that contain NaCl 0.9% solution for 1 minute. Samples were then grown in nutrient agar plate and incubated at 37°C for 48 hours. The culture results were calculated using the colony counter tool.Results: There is a significant difference before and after handrubbing with significance 0.00 (P<0.05) and before and after handwashing with significance 0.001 (p<0.05) in reducing bacterial colonization in hand with. However, there is no significant association between handrubbing and handwashing method in reducing the number of bacterial colonization with a significance number of 0.892 (p> 0.05).Conclusion: There is no significant differences between handrubbing and handwashing in reducing the number of bacterial colonization.