Prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs among school going children of Pondicherry, India.

Dental caries is an important Dental public Health problem. Its high morbidity potential has brought this disease into the focus of dental health professionals. The purpose of the study was to assess the prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs among 5 and 12 years old school children of urban Pondicherry. The study population consisted of 2022 school children of both the sexes, (1009, 5-year-old children) and (1013, 12-year-old children). A simple random sampling method was used to select the schools. Dental caries was assessed by Dentition Status and Treatment Needs described by WHO (1997). The prevalence of dental caries was 44.4% in 5 years age group with 47.4% for males (mean dmft = 1.91 +/- 2.64 S.D.) and 41.1% for females (mean dmft = 1.45 +/- 2.18 S.D.). In 12 years age group the prevalence of dental caries was 22.3% with 20.6% for males (mean DMFT = 0.40 +/- 0.94 S.D.) and 24.1% for females (mean DMFT = 0.55 +/- 1.15 S.D). Evaluation of treatment needs revealed that the greatest need was for one surface restorations followed by two or more surface restorations. It may be concluded that FDI/WHO Oral Health Goals for the year 2000 have been achieved for the ages 5-6 and 12 years in Pondicherry.