Prevalence of Dental Caries among 3-5 Years Old Preschool Children in Kanpur City, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract

Background: Early childhood caries (ECC) is a severe form of dental decay with multi-factorial origin which affects pre-school children Early Childhood Caries (ECC) is a significant dental public health problem due to its impact on children’s health and development.

Objective: To assess prevalence of Dental Caries among 3 to 5 years old preschool children in Kanpur city, Uttar Pradesh.

Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1000 preschool children aged 3-5 year-old of Kanpur. Children were randomly selected from preschools of Kanpur. 

Dental caries was assessed as per WHO criteria and deft index was used to measure the prevalence of caries activity for primary teeth.

Result: The prevalence of dental caries in the study group was 51.2% with the mean deft score was 3.70± 2.64. Prevalence of dental caries in 3, 4 and 5 year old was 36.69%, 55.49% and 58.24% respectively.

Conclusion: An urgent need to implement preventive and curative oral health programs for preschool children and to increase awareness among the public about ECC