A Survey on the Prevalence of Dental Caries Among Elementary School Girls of Multan, Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Study Design: cross-sectional study 
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Oral Biology Department, Tertiary Care Dental 
Hospital of Multan, Pakistan from January 2023 till June 2023. 
Materials and Methods: The study was conducted at an elementary school for the purpose to assess dental caries in 
girls after the provision of the certificate from the ethical review board. A total of 270 girls were selected by 
utilizing a random sampling technique and Rao soft calculator was used. The age of the participants was 8-16 years. 
Informed consent was obtained from each participant accordingly after translating into Urdu language. All the data 
were collected from questionnaires and intra-oral checkups as well. The data was analyzed by using the latest 
version of SPSS 24. 
Results: A total of 270 girls were selected in the current study with their ages ranging from 8-16 years. 93 (34.44%) 
of them were from 11-13 years of age and 111(41.11%) were from 14-16 years of age. The mean age of the 
participants was 12.13 ± 2.32 years. The overall frequency of dental caries was 166 (61.48%). 188 (96.62%) were 
decayed, 77 (26.66%) were missing teeth and 11 (4%) had filled teeth. 48.79% of them were from 11-13 years, 
28.31% were from 8-10 years and 22.89% of them were from 14-16 years. 80.72% of them had 1-2 teeth affected, 
while 53.61% had 3-4 teeth affected and 42.77% of them had 5-6 teeth affected among the various age groups 
respectively. 34.44% had good oral hygiene. Furthermore, 56.29% had bacterial plaque bio-film. 
Conclusion: The current study concluded that the overall prevalence of dental caries among elementary school girls 
was more than half (61.48%), therefore, proper management and awareness programs need to be arranged for the 
school girls, parents, and the teachers so as to maintain a good oral health and minimize the prevalence of dental 
caries among these subjects.