Publication:

Prevalence of dental caries and other oral health problems among municipal secondary school children in Mumbai metropolitan region

Background Dental caries and other oral health issues are major public health problems among school going children. This study is conducted to assess the prevalence of dental caries, other oral health problems and some oral hygiene practices among municipal secondary school children in an urban area.

Methods The present study was conducted among randomly selected 152 students studying in a Municipal Secondary School in an urban area. They were examined for dental caries and other oral health problems. Also, they were asked about the oral hygiene practices. Data was entered in Google form. Obtained data was entered in a MS-Excel spreadsheet and statistical analysis was done using Chi-square test.

Results Of the 152 subjects examined, 137 (90.13%) were having one or more oral health problems. 74 (48.68%) subjects were having dental caries. Of the 137 subjects having oral health problems, 132 (86.84%) subjects’ fathers’ education and 135 (88.82%) subjects’ mothers’ education was ≤12th standard (p<0.05). Of the 77 subjects studying in 5th to 7th standard, 45 (29.61%) were suffering from dental caries (p<0.05). Of the 140 subjects whose fathers’ education was ≤12th standard, 73 (48.03%) were suffering from dental caries (p<0.05). Of the 74 (48.68%) subjects who were suffering from dental caries 24 (15.79%) and of the 78 (51.32%) who were not suffering from dental caries 35 (23.03%) were brushing their teeth for more than 2 minutes.

Conclusions School health services should be strengthened to detect and treat oral health problems in time as well as to increase general oral health awareness among school children.