Prevalence of dental caries and associated teeth cleaning habits among children in four primary schools.

A study was conducted in four primary schools of Mehrauli block of rural Delhi. Four hundred and fifty eight primary school children of both sexes in the age group of 5-14+ were medically examined in daylight using a mouth mirror and probe. The children came from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Presence of clinical caries was recorded by naked eye examination. Dental caries prevalence was 33.19% and DMF index was 0.52. Teeth cleaning habits of the school children in terms of regularity and associated caries prevalence was also noted. The 'Regular' teeth cleaning group showed significantly less caries prevalence while 'Not Regular' and 'Never Cleaning' groups had higher caries prevalence. Since childhood is such an impressionable age all students were made aware of the need for proper oral hygiene to minimize the incidence of caries among them.