Purpose: The objective of present study was to evaluate dental caries status and treatment needs as well as oral hygiene practices among school children. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among a sample of 320 school children. Clinical examinations were carried out using WHO proforma and a self-administered structured questionnaire was prepared to know about oral hygiene practices. The data was analyzed using student’s t test and ANOVA test at p < 0.05. Results: The mean score for DMFT was 1.37± 1.301. Most of the children need one surface filing (29%) followed by two surfaces (14.3%) and pulp care (12.8%). Conclusion: Children are potentially at an increased risk of poor oral health. The unmet needs for decayed teeth were also found to be high indicating a very poor accessibility and availability of any oral health care.
Key words:Dental caries; school children; treatment needs.

Corresponding author: Dr. Kisha Shah, Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India

This article may be cited as: Shah K, Parikh U. Dental Caries, Treatment Needs and Oral Hygiene Practices among School Children. Int J Res Health Allied Sci 2017;3(6):16-19.