Prevalence of Dental Caries among Slum Dwelling Children Aged 12-15 Years in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India

INTRODUCTION: Dental caries, is a global health burden which hampers the holistic health of an individual and leads to complications later in life. AIM: To assess the dental caries status of children in slum-dwelling areas of Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive approach was conducted among 400 slum dwelling children aged 12-15 years using DMFT index, sterile instruments and ADA type III examinations. Descriptive statistics were applied using Microsoft excel. Data was then transferred into SPSS version 21.0 and the t-test (paired), Spearman's correlation and Odd's Ratio were applied to find significant associations, if any. RESULTS: The prevalence of dental caries was found to be 69.0%. Mean decay values were 3.02±1.22, whereas the mean DMFT was 1.77±1.2. A significant difference was seen between caries free and children affected with caries (p=04*, r=0.78). It was also observed that males were 2.1 times more prone to have a higher DMFT as compared to females. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that further studies be carried out among slum dwelling children of Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India and specific dental education be imparted to them to improve their oral health.