Background: Oral health is defined as a state of the mouth and its associated structures, where there is no disease or pain and able to function well to masticate food and state of teeth which are of a socially acceptable appearance. The present study was undertaken for analysing the prevalence of dental caries in school going children. Materials & methods: A total of 500 school going children were enrolled in the present study from different schools located in the urban areas. Children were of age group 5- 15 years of age. Age was recorded from school records. The examiners underwent 1 day training program and clinical calibration exercises before screening the children. The children were examined individually in the school premises by one of the four examiners on a simple straight wooden chair using plane mouth mirrors and community periodontal index probe. The examination was done under natural day light using WHO criteria. The children were examined for the presence of decay, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index was used to record primary dentition status. dmft index values are recorded and mean and standard deviation calculated. All the results were recorded in Microsoft excel sheet and were analysed using SPSS software. Results: Out of 500 children, 339 children were affected by dental carries. Hence; the overall prevalence of dental caries among school going children was 67.8 percent. Mean dmft score was 2.90. Conclusion: The present research provided us with the baseline data of all the children screened. Children are highly susceptible to dental caries and should be educated routinely about its prevention. Key words: Dental carries, School going children