Prevalence of dental caries among five-year-old school children in Shimla city, Himachal Pradesh

Abstract

Objective:The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of dental caries among five year old school children in Shimla city-Himachal Pradesh. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 800 school going children 421 (52.62%) boys and 379 (47.38%) girls from government primary schools which were selected randomly from four different zones of Shimla city. Type -III examination was conducted. The data obtained was analyzed by SPSS version 15 ( Inc., Chicago) using proportion test for comparison. Results: Boys were having higher caries prevalence than girls, (46.8% vs 41.6%) and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Caries prevalence was higher in the mandibular arch than in the maxillary arch among both the gender with a difference which was significant statistically. Caries prevalence was higher on left than right side in both male and female subjects. When the caries prevalence of the anterior teeth was compared between the gender, boys showed higher caries prevalence than girls and this difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Comparison of caries between the arches in the anterior segment revealed that caries attack was higher in the maxillary arch and the difference was highly significant statistically (P<0.01). Conclusion: Dental caries is a significant public health problem among this population. It is a cause of concern which point out to the utmost necessity of dental health education of children, school teachers and parents. Emphasis should be given on regular check-up and application of preventive measures and treatment modalities.

Comparative evaluation of caries status in primary and permanent molars in 7–8-year-old schoolchildren of shimla using caries assessment spectrum and treatment index

“…They included 5-year-old schoolchildren of Shimla city in their study. [ 9 ] In another survey at Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh, in which oral health status of children in the age group of 5–12 years was assessed. In the age group of 5–8 years, they reported 56.8% of caries prevalence which is slight more than our study.…”

Dental caries prevalence in individual tooth in primary and permanent dentition among 6-12-year-old school children in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh

“…These early erupted teeth exposed to risk factors responsible for initiation and progression of dental caries. Hence it is logical to assume that female subjects teeth would decay more than the teeth of the male subjects of the [11] same age. Bhardwaj et al revealed contrasting results showing male students with high prevalence of dental caries than among females.…”

“…During this period, oral hygiene is poor not only because of the carefree age and the emotional stresses of the child, but mainly because of frequent intake of refined sugars, soft and sticky foods, shedding of deciduous teeth and the It is crucial to control the disease process by assessing and rendering the treatment required along with spreading awareness regarding prevention. Many studies have been conducted in India and globally which reveal the prevalence of [7], [8], [9], [10], [11] dental caries among different populations.…”

Prevalence of Dental Caries in the Indian Population

“…Two independent reviewers on screening the remaining data, finally included 70 articles in this meta-analysis after excluding 25 articles due to studies lacking the prevalence rate of dental caries, no specification of DMFT index and age not matching with the inclusion criteria. [ 8 9 , 13 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 ]…”