INTRODUCTION: Dental caries is an important public health problem in developing countries. It is a common chronic disease in children of age 6 to 11 years and in adolescents. It is largely a preventable disease. The present study was conducted with the objective of assessing the burden of disease in primary school children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted in primary schools of Haldwani block of Nainital district of Uttarakhand. Students studying in class I to V were assessed for presence of dental caries and asked about sociodemographic characteristics with the help of predesigned questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 385 students were included in the study and the overall prevalence of dental caries was found to be 58. 18%. The prevalence of dental caries has shown a declining trend with age and this difference was found to be statistically significant (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dental caries is high in primary school children. Awareness regarding oral hygiene habits should be generated among students and their parents for prevention of dental caries. Regular screening programmes should be conducted in schools for early diagnosis and prompt treatment.
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Garkoti et al. (2015) studied this question.
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