Background: The present study was conducted for evaluating the prevalence of dental caries among school going children. Materials & methods: A total of 500 school going children were enrolled in the present study. The structured pretested proforma was used to assess dental caries in the school children that included information related to gender, age and brushing frequency. Clinical examinations included dental caries examination using WHO standard criteria as mentioned in WHO Oral Health Proforma1- 4 was used to assess the prevalence of dental caries. The clinical examination was carried out by a trained examiner who was initially trained and was supervised by an expert clinician. Inclusion criteria included school children aged 12-15 years. Individuals suffering from systemic illness and who were not willing to participate in the study were excluded. The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: The prevalence of dental caries among school going children was found to be present in 47.8 percent of the patients. Among these 239 patients, 139 were boys while the remaining 200 were girls. Majority of the patients with dental caries belonged to lower class of socio-economic status. Conclusion: Dental caries is a common public health problem in school children associated with poor oral hygiene, dietary and dental visit habits. Key words: Dental caries, School children