Prevalence of Dental Caries in Children of Age 5 to 13 Years in District of Vaishali, Bihar, India

CONTEXT: Dental caries is the most common type of oral health problem globally. It is known to have multifactorial etiology with a number of variables that influence the prevalence of the condition. AIM: The present study was carried out in the district of Vaishali, Bihar, India, with an aim to determine the prevalence of dental caries in children of 5 to 13 years. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It was a descriptive type of epidemiological study and the design adopted for the study was cross-sectional. No active intervention and follow-up examinations were performed. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 1,000 children of 5 to 13 year age group were examined for the study. The study population was categorized based on age, sex, location, and socioeconomic status. The examination procedure and criteria were those recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data obtained from the survey were subjected to statistical evaluation using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. Test for significance was done with the help of analysis of variance (ANOVA) and chi-square test. RESULTS: The difference in the caries prevalence between the age groups and between the socioeconomic level was very highly significant (p = 0.000). There was a statistically significant difference observed in the prevalence of caries between the sexes (p = 0.016) as well as between urban and rural (p = 0.018). CONCLUSION: It is expected that the data obtained with the help of this survey will prove to be very useful to the concerned authorities in handling dental caries which is a biosocial disease rooted in the technology and economy of our society. How to cite this article: Goenka P, Dutta S, Marwah N, Sarawgi A, Nirwan M, Mishra P. Prevalence of Dental Caries in Children of Age 5 to 13 Years in District of Vaishali, Bihar, India. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(5):359-364.