Prevalence of caries in anterior teeth in adults of Dakshina Kannada Indian population – An epidemiological study

Abstract

BackgroundAnterior teeth caries have been found to affect quality of life because of aesthetic reasons and to be greater burden economically as compared to posterior teeth. Information on caries prevalence and severity forms the basis for the magnitude and quality of caries prevention programs and treatment needs in a population. The objective of this study was to find out the prevalence of caries in anterior teeth. MethodsStudy was conducted on 2000 patients reporting for treatment in A.B. Shetty Memorial institute of dental sciences and rural satellite centres. WHO criterion for caries detection was followed. All the data was then coded and the prevalence of carious anterior teeth was evaluated according to age, gender, diet and occupation using the SPSS 15.0 software package for statistical analysis. ResultsThe overall prevalence of caries in anterior teeth was found to be 24.65% being more prevalent in males and in age group of 36–45 years. There was a strong correlation between age (p value −0.0135), location (p value <0.05), type of diet (p value <0.05), oral hygiene habits (p value <0.05), malalignment of teeth (p value <0.05) and anterior teeth caries but no association between anterior decay and occupation (p value −0.1834), gender (p value −0.843) of the population. The most commonly affected teeth were found to be maxillary central incisors. ConclusionThe anterior teeth caries has high prevalence and has a strong correlation with age, location, type of diet, oral hygiene habits and malalignment of teeth.