Volume : 6, Issue : 5, May - 2017

A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY ON DENTAL CARIES AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN A PRIMARY CARE SETTING

Dr. S. Priya

Abstract :

<p>&nbsp;Collecting data on prevalence is needed for planning and evaluating health programmes, and also for making earlier diagnosis and prompt intervention . As the data on dental caries prevalence was few in Tamilnadu, the present study was carried out with the objective of determining dental caries prevalence among Government school children of 7th-10th std aged 12-15 years in Kallendiri block of Madurai district, Tamilnadu. A total of 300 students (169 boys &amp; 131 girls) were interviewed separately and dental caries was measured based on WHO criteria of DMFT ( Decayed, Missed, Filled Tooth). SUMMARY The prevalence of caries was 82.7% with mean DMFT of 2.02. Among them, 78% were males and 75.6% were females. Dental caries was significantly inversely related to mother&rsquo;s education. &nbsp;</p>