Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Background: Dental caries is the most commonly occurring condition amongst children. Various factors are found to be responsible for early childhood caries. These include a susceptible host, intake of fermentable carbohydrate, lack of proper oral hygiene maintenance leading to plaque accumulation, presence of  cariogenic bacteria like Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus, and time for the action of all the above. The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of early childhood caries in rural areas. Materials and methods: The present cross sectional study was conducted in the department, Institute, State during a period of one year i.e. from June 20XX to July 20XX. The study consisted of 1300 preschoolers aged less than 60 months. Complete clinical examination of the children was done using mouth mirror and probe. Minimal pressure was used for the removal of debris under complete aseptic conditions to detect decay in teeth. A predesigned proforma was used to fill the decayed, missing and filled teeth. All the data thus obtained was complied in a tabulated form and analysed using SPSS software. Chi square  test was applied as a test of significance. Probability value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Results: In this cross sectional study, a total of 1300 subjects were enrolled, the mean of the subjects was 3.48 +/- 1.22 years. There were 44% (n=572) children who had decay in 1-4 teeth. There were 40% (n=520) subjects who had decay in 5-9 teeth. There were 59% (n=767) males and 41%(n=533) females in this study. Majority of children had working mothers i.e. 65% (n=845). Conclusion: The prevalence of early childhood caries was 98% in our study. It is a commonly seen clinical entity amongst children of rural areas. This clearly indicates lack of knowledge and awareness amongst the parents.
Keywords:  Awareness, Caries, Children, Rural.

Corresponding author:  Dr. Sandeep Sidhu, MDS, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, IDS,  Sehora, Jammu, J & K

This article may be cited as: SidhuS, Singh N, Katoch V, Kour A, Kumar M, Sharma TM. Prevalence of Early Childhood Caries Amongst School Children of Rural Areas. J Adv Med Dent Scie Res 2017;5(10):25-27.