Assessment of Caries-Prevalence, Unmet Dental Treatment Needs and Barriers to Care as Perceived by Parents of Private and Government Aided-School Children of Gandhinagar-An Epidemiological Study

Epidemiological studies could be useful in determining disease prevalence and identifying potential factors influencing disease patterns. Hence, present study was aimed to assess dental caries prevalence, unmet dental treatment needs and perceived parental barriers among 6-12-year-old school children of Gandhinagar, Gujarat. A total of 750; 6-12-year-old, Private and Government school attending children of Gandhinagar were selected through stratified random sampling methodology. Data was collected using WHO1997 survey methodology. Questionnaires including 10 close ended questions were distributed for assessment of parental barriers. Children were examined for caries prevalence using deft, DMFT index and modified treatment needs index was used to assess the required treatment needs. Chi square, Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney U tests at 5% level of significance were used for statistical analysis. Prevalence of dental caries in government school was 81.60% whereas in private school it was 77.33 % (P=0.1987). Majority of the children had untreated decayed component. Major treatments needed were oral prophylaxis, one surface filling. Overall high cost of dental treatment and lack of awareness of dental diseases were potential barrier for parents in utilizing dental services for children. According to study results, Gandhinagar city has high dental caries prevalence and untreated caries indicates higher preventive and restorative treatment needs. Hence, to overcome above mentioned parental barriers, specialized educational programme to raise parental awareness along with Mobile dental-clinics, dental-camps and dental outreach initiatives may be effective ways to raise accessibility. School and community-based promotional, educational and preventative programme will indeed serve to improve existing situation immensely.