Prevalence of dental caries in 5 - 6 years and 12 - 13 years age group of school children of Kathmandu valley.

INTRODUCTION Dental caries is one of the most common conditions affecting the general health of children. The present study was carried out among school children of Kathmandu valley to determine the prevalence of dental caries in two age groups. METHODS The study was conducted from December 2007 to May 2008. The age of the school children of the study was divided into two group: 5 - 6 years and 12 - 13 years. A stratified cluster sampling with proportional allocation was used while grouping the subjects. The dental status examination was done with the help of trained dentists. Decayed, missed and filled teeth index and decayed, missed and filled surfaces index (dmft for primary dentition and DMFT for permanent dentition) were used as the standard tools for the determination of prevalence. RESULTS A total of 638 students (325 of age group 12 - 13 years and 313 of age group 5 - 6 years) from 30 different schools of the Kathmandu valley were included in the study. The caries status was found higher in the age group of 5 - 6 years than in the 12 - 13 years and it was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.001). The dmfs and caries percentage of the age group 5 - 6 years and the DMFS and caries percent of the 12 - 13 years was found to be 3.79, 69 % and 1.6, 53.23 % respectively. The dmft/dmfs value was found to be significant according to the districts in the 5 - 6 years age group whereas the DMFS was found statistically significant among the sexes of the 12 - 13 years age group. CONCLUSION The caries percentage was found to be above the recommended level of the World Health Organization. However, the DMFS and DMFT values were within the WHO level.