The effect of oral health education and treatment on dental caries prevalence among primary schoolchildren in Nagrota Bagwan Block of Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India: A school-based cross-sectional study

Background: The study was taken up with the aim to study the prevalence of dental caries to improve oral health through health education, early diagnosis and treatment, and to evaluate the impact of intervention (treatment and oral health education) on oral health in the schoolgoing children of Nagrota Bagwan Block of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: A total number of 3,069 schoolchildren in the age group of 5-12 years studying in 96 government primary schools of the study area were surveyed to find out dental caries using dentition status and treatment need index [World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria, 1997]. Oral health education and treatment were provided and the data were collected again after 6 months of intervention. Results: The overall caries prevalence of subjects decreased from 58.4% at the baseline to 45.4% after 6 months following intervention with high caries prevalence in females as compared to males and in the 9-12 years age group as compared to the 5-8 years age group. The mean decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft/DMFT) was 2.05 ± 4.13 and 2.56 ± 4.20 at the baseline, 2.04 ± 2.9 and 2.51 ± 2.97 at 6 months in 5-8 years age group and 9-12 years age group, respectively. Conclusion: The findings of the study demonstrated that schoolchildren in Nagrota Bagwan Block of Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, India suffer from high prevalence of dental caries. Oral health education and intervention conducted after 3-month intervals were effective in reducing dental caries experience in schoolchildren.