Assessment of prevalence of dental caries among school-going children: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The background of the study was to assess the prevalence of dental caries among school-going children. Materials and Methods: Six thousand eight hundred and ninety school-going children was enrolled. General clinical examination was carried out. Mouth mirror, probe, and explorer were used for carrying out the clinical examination. Over a time span of 6 months, the entire study was completed. All the examiners who performed clinical examination underwent a single-day training program for detecting dental caries. All the participants were seated on straight wooden chairs and were examined clinically. The prevalence of caries was recorded. Results: The prevalence was 26.02%. Among these children with dental caries, 50.25% of the children belonged to the age group of 13-15 years, while the remaining 49.75% of the children belonged to the age group of 9-12 years. Prevalence of dental caries was significantly higher in females (71.11%) in comparison to males. Furthermore, dental caries was significantly more prevalent among participants with toothbrushing frequency of less than once a day (51.20%). Conclusion: There is an imperative need for intimating health check-up camps among school-going children.