Dental caries prevalence and treatment needs of school going children in Kannur District, Kerala

Abstract

Background: An epidemiological investigation was carried out to know the prevalence of Dental Caries amongst schoolchildren in Kannur District, Kerala. Materials and Methods: The criteria used for diagnosing caries were according to the World Health Organizations (1997). All data were entered into the SPSS program and subjected to statistical analysis. Results: The point prevalence of dental caries was recorded to be 49.44% with an average DMFT/deft of 2.63. The prevalence of caries showed a pattern of occurrence consistently increased from 5-7 years to 8-10 years age group and subsequently decreased at 11-14 years age. Regarding treatment needs, 66.19% children required dental treatment for dental caries. Conclusion: The study revealed that caries component of decayed, missing, filled/deft index was high at 90.01% indicating that many carious teeth were left untreated and this calls for concern.

Keywords

• caries prevalence
• dental caries
• school dental heath