| ARTICLE |
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| Year : 2011 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 5 | Page : 447-452 |
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Polarization of dental caries amongst 3rd year dental students in a Dental Teaching Institution in Bangalore, India - A cross sectional survey
K Vinodhini1, AG Harikiran1, BR Rajeev1, Ehtasham Hussain1, KS Nagesh2
1 Dept of Preventive and Community Dentistry, India
2 DAPM R.V. Dental College, India
Correspondence Address:
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
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Background: Prevalence of dental caries is used to quantify inequalities and identify high risk groups, for timely targeted interventions. SiC Index and the assessment of what percentage of the population has
75% of caries burden is used to quantify polarization. This study was conducted to assess the caries prevalence and polarization among third year undergraduate dental students in a dental teaching institution in Bangalore, India.
Method: Data was obtained from the Departmental records. DMFT index given by Klein, Palmer and Knutson,1938 was used to record the Dental Caries Experience. SiC Index and Cumulative frequency curves were used to assess polarization. Data was analyzed using SPSS 14 for descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results: Data from 3 batches had a total of 145 students, 43 (30%) males and 102 (70%) females. Caries prevalence was found to be 62.75%. The mean DMFT values of male and female students for the batches 1, 2 and 3 were 2.1 2.2 and 2.6 2.3, 2.3 2.7 and 1.9 2.4 while the SiC Index scores were
8.3, 4.3 and 4.1 respectively. 75% of dental caries was found in 32% of the total study population. Marked male: female differences in polarization was observed [5% males experienced 75% of caries compared to
25% females]. Among the 3 batches, 14% of the students in batch 1 and 2 and 21% of batch 3 student experienced 75% of dental caries.
Discussion and Conclusion: 75% of dental caries was found in 32% of students showing definite polarization of caries experience. The identified high risk group provides an ideal setting in a dental institution to plan, implement and evaluate appropriate dental public health strategy especially as part of the undergraduate training program. |
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