Prevalence and Severity of Dental Caries Among 3-6 Year Old Anganwadi Children of District Faridabad using International Dental Caries Detection and Assessment System II

Abstract

Aim: To assess the prevalence and severity of dental caries in the primary (deciduous) dentition of 3-6 year old children attending Anganwadi centers of District Faridabad using the diagnostic criteria of the International Dental Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS) II.

Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 3-6 year old Anganwadi children using criteria of the ICDAS. Clinical examinations of 350 children were conducted by single examiner who was previously trained in the ICDA Sand the intra examiner kappa values was found to be ≥0.79 for all codes of ICDAS. For the analysis, the SPSS, version-14 was used. The ICDAS II codes were converted into: the d-component consisted of (a) d_2-3 component comprising ICDAS II codes 2, 3; (b) d_4-6 component comprising ICDAS II codes4, 5, 6; (c) d_2-6 component comprising ICDAS II codes 2-6. The prevalence of different ICDAS II codes and d_2-3(enamel caries), d_4-6 (dentinal caries) & d_2-6(enamel and dentinal caries) were compared across different age groups and gender using chi-square test. To compare the severity of the disease among different age groups and gender, ANOVA and unpaired Student’s t-test was used respectively.

Results: The prevalence of dental caries among Anganwadi children was found to be 38.0%. The prevalence of d_2-3s (enamel lesions), d_4-6s (dentinal lesions), and d_2-6s (enamel and dentinal lesions) in the present study was 21.4%, 23.1% and 40.6% respectively. The mean score d_2-3s (enamel lesions), d_4-6s (dentinal lesions), and d_2-6s (enamel and dentinal lesions) in present study was 0.68±1.57, 0.43±1.07 and 1.66±3.12 respectively. Among males and females, only the mean number of surfaces affected from code 3 (Localized Enamel Breakdown) was found to be significantly more among males as compared to females. The prevalence of d_2-3s (ICDAS II score 2-3, enamel lesions) was found to be significantly more among males as compare to females (p-value<0.05)

Conclusion: Caries prevalence was low in preschool children attending Anganwadi centers but there was accumulation of unmet needs due to poor access to dental services. So, there is need of appropriate preventive approaches to reduce the burden of disease.