Association between oral hygiene status and dental caries among 13–14 years old children of Kamrup District, Assam

Abstract

Background: Dental caries and periodontal problems are mainly caused due to poor oral hygiene practices. Aim: This study aims to determine the relationship between oral hygiene status and dental caries in 13–14 years old school-going children of rural and urban locality in Kamrup Metropolitan District, Assam. Materials and Methods: A total of 1501 school children in the age group of 13–14 years were included in the study and dental caries was recorded from decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) index as described by World Health Organization (1997) and Oral hygiene status was assessed using Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) given by Greene and Vermilion 1964. The unpaired t-test, Chi-square test, and Pearson correlation test were used to assess the relation between oral hygiene status and dental caries among different age groups, and location of the school-going children using SPSS version 21 and P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: The results showed a significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) between mean OHI-S score and decayed component of DMFT score among rural school children whereas in urban children a significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) was found between mean OHI-S score and mean score of Decayed, Missing and Filled teeth component of DMFT. Conclusion: The overall prevalence of dental caries among school children of Kamrup (Metropolitan) District was 33.6%. The present study showed a significant positive correlation of mean OHI-S score with a mean of decayed teeth and DMFT score.