Publication:

Prevalence of dental caries among 13 and 14 years of school going children in urban Chidambaram: a cross sectional study

Background Dental caries is a public health problem in developing countries like India. Indian trends show increase in prevalence of dental caries over last five decades with prevalence of 50 to 60%. The present study was conducted to find out the prevalence of dental caries and to find out the associated risk factors for dental caries among 13- and 14-years school children in urban Chidambaram.

Methods This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out for the period of 3 months from October to December 2019. 136 students from one government and private school were selected conveniently. Data were collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire, which were analyzed using Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23.

Results The prevalence of dental caries was found to be 58.8%. The prevalence of dental caries was found to higher among the boys (62.1%), lower socioeconomic class students (80.4%) and students studying in the government school (66.7%). There is significant association between frequency of brushing, rinsing of mouth after taking food, brushing technique, frequency changing of brush, duration of brushing and presence of dental caries. (p<0.001).

Conclusions Lack of awareness, poor oral hygienic practices are seemingly the contributing factors for the development of dental caries. Dental caries is a preventable disease which can be alleviated by creating community awareness through health education activities.