Abstract
ABSTRACT Aim To determine the dental caries experience of pre-school children attending anganwadi and day care centre in Udupi Taluk. Materials and Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 825 pre-school children attending Anganwadi and day care centers in Udupi Taluk. Dental caries was assessed using Dentition status and treatment needs (WHO, 1997). Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 with significance level at P value < 0.05. Chi-square test was used to find out the significant differences. Level of significance was taken Results Dental caries experience was significantly higher among anganwadi children (3.74±3.58) as compared to day care children (3.26±3.32). The prevalence of dental caries was 64.2% among anganwadi children and 61.0% among day care children. Girls had slightly higher mean deft score, mean number of decayed teeth, filled teeth and lower missing teeth as compared to boys. Conclusion High caries experience in this study revealed that there is a great need to plan and conduct oral health promotion initiatives and treatment activities for preschool children. The oral health education at initial stages would help in improving preventive dental behavior and attitude which is beneficial for lifelong.
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