Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs among School Children of Urban, Rural and Tribal Communities in Mahabubnagar District, Telangana. A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Oral health is an essential component of overall health and well-being. It affects general health, quality of life, including self-esteem, learning, employment, ability to masticate speak, and other routine activities in a child. Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and treatment needs among children of urban, rural, and tribal communities in Mahabubnagar district, Telangana state. Materials and Methods: A descriptive study was conducted among 2144 urban, rural, and tribal children residing in Mahabubnagar district. Multi-stage simple random sampling was done to obtain the sample size. An intra-oral examination was performed by a single calibrated examiner to assess the Oral health status using WHO, proforma 1997. Statistical Analysis: Data were analyzed using the SPSS version 16 (IBM, India); Pearson Chi-square test was performed to compare qualitative data and to find the statistical significance. Chi-square and Kruskal wallis test was used where applicable when comparing dental caries severity among study population based on age,sex and region. The level of statistical significance was set at P < 0.005. Results: The prevalence dental caries in urban, rural, and tribal regions was found to be 73.12%, 72.47%, and 78.46%, respectively, with an overall prevalence of dental caries 74.76%. The P value came out to be 0.016 (<0.05) which was statistically significant indicating the differed prevalence of dental caries location wise. Conclusion: The present study showed that the dental caries was more in rural areas followed by urban and tribal areas. The prevalence of dental caries was 74.76% and the treatment needs was 42%.