A Study on the Dental Health of Urban Government School Children in Telangana

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Dental Health in school going children is amajor issue of concern that effects their general health andoverall well-being. Taking this into consideration the presentstudy was taken up to assess the prevalence of dental problemsin Government school going children of Telangana state andto create awareness among them about oral health.Material and methods: The present study consisted of 2205subjects from two Govt schools of Hyderabad, Telanganastate. The data was collected by interviewing the childrenin the age group of 5-15yrs and by clinical examination.Complete information on the oral health of the children wascollected and awareness was created among them about oralhygiene.Results: The prevalence of dental health problems wasobserved in 77.41% of school children. Majority of the caseswere reported from Borabanda Govt. school (67%) comparedto Banjara Hills Govt. School (33%) which shows the impactof socio economic status and locality on the outcome of dentalcomplications.Conclusions: A large number of school children werereported with dental health problems suggesting improperdietary habits, lack of awareness on oral hygiene and poorfinancial support for the treatment. Poor dental health maybe detrimental to children’s quality of life and academicperformance at school. Creating awareness among the schoolchildren and their parents about oral hygiene may help totackle the dental problems in poor school going children