Dental caries experience in primary school pupils in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and pattern of dental caries in children in public and private primary schools in Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was a comparative cross-sectional study carried out among children in two private and two public primary schools in Obio/Akpor local government area. Information was obtained from the school records and parents by means of structured questionnaires. The dentition status was obtained with the aid of sterile instruments in an upright chair under natural light. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: There were 200 (46.5%) males and 230 (53.5%) females, with a mean age of 7.6 (±2.7) years. The prevalence of dental caries was 12.6%; the private school pupils had a prevalence of 10.2% while that of the public school pupils was 15%. Forty-five (13.1%) pupils had a decayed, missing, filled teeth of primary dentition (dmft) >0; 17 (37.8%) were private school pupils. They had a mean dmft index of 0.25 (±0.76); the private school pupils had a lower mean dmft. The mean decayed, missing, filled teeth of permanent dentition (DMFT) index was 0.05 (±0.33); the difference between private and public schools was not statistically significant (P = 0.50). Untreated dental caries was 84.2% and 94.3% of permanent and primary dentitions, respectively. Conclusion: Dental caries is not a common problem in this study population; the mean dmft/DMFT values were very low. However, the prevalence of dental caries was higher among children attending public schools. There was a high prevalence of untreated caries.