Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Objective: Sugars are the most imperative cause of dental caries. Frequent consumption of carbohydrate rich diet increases the chances of dental caries. The present study was planned to determine the prevalence of dental caries and its relation to the lunch diet in school-going children. Methods: The study was conducted in two schools in different regions of the city and a total of 485 students participated in the study. Before the beginning of lunch break time, each student’s lunch box was viewed to identify the main foods and beverages. Clinical assessment of caries status was done according to the criteria of decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index and decayed filled (df) index. SPSS version 16.0 was used for the analysis of the data using ANOVA test (p≤ 0.05). Results: The most frequently consumed foods were chapatti (49%), vegetables (42%), bread (38%), snacks (26%) and rice (21%). Drinks such as coffee/tea and cold beverages were the least common findings during lunch times. DMFT and DMFS scores for all the school children came out to be 0.32±0.768 and 0.42±0.765 respectively. Similarly overall deft and defs was found as 2.44±2.434 and 5.42±7.654 respectively. When the caries status was compared according to sugar exposure, there was an increase in the mean DMFT, DMFS, deft and defs scores.  Conclusion: It was concluded that the level of caries index in children increased with each year of class and the frequency of sugar exposure.
Keywords: Children; DMFT; DMFS; deft; defs; Lunchbox

Corresponding author: Dr. Sakshi Bamba, MDS, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Jammu

This article may be cited as: Bamba S, Dogra V, Vikram S, Gupta A, Gupta A, Anandani A. Prevalence of dental caries among school children according to the content of the lunch box. J Adv Med Dent Scie Res 2016;4(4):154-158.