Keywords
Dental caries
Oral hygiene practices
Sugar consumption
How to Cite
Abstract
Background: Dental caries is highly prevalent public health problem affecting quality of life, and adding economic burden to family and nation. Primary preventive measures are good oral hygiene, diet counselling, and regular fluoride use.
Objectives: To assess prevalence of dental caries and its association with sugar consumption and oral hygiene practices among school children.
Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from 2021 September-December, among 279 children aged 6-14 years in five government schools of Kathmandu using convenience sampling. A self-validated questionnaire was used to record 24-hour diet chart and oral hygiene practices. Diagnosis of caries was done using decayed-missing-filled teeth (DMFT/dmft) index.
Results: Prevalence of dental caries among the participants was 82.44% (230). Mean dmft and DMFT were 2.65 ± 2.73 and 0.57 ± 0.91 respectively. Among all children, 228 (81.72%) consumed ‘solid sugary’ food in past 24 hours. There was no significant association between caries prevalence and form of sugary food consumed, but prevalence was higher among those who consumed sugary food more than once in past 24 hours. Similarly, there was no significant association between prevalence of caries and oral hygiene practices, but prevalence was lesser among children who brushed twice daily using fluoridated toothpaste. There was significant association between dental caries prevalence and mouth rinsing habit (p = 0.037).
Conclusion: Prevalence of dental caries among study population was high and majority consumed sugary food. Prevalence of dental caries was higher among children who consumed sugary food more frequently, and brushed and rinsed their mouth less frequently.
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