Caries Experience of Mumbai children aged 6 and 12 years

In order to provide data for planning and formulating oral health policies and as a baseline for future comparisons, the objectives were to determine the oral health status of school children aged 6 and 12 years in Mumbai, to identify socio-demographic risk factors for oral health, to identify the effect of oral hygiene and dietary habits on caries experience and prevalence in 12-year-olds and to determine any use of tobacco among 12-year-olds.

Methods:

A cross-sectional oral epidemiological survey of 1654 children aged 6 and 12 was conducted in Mumbai and in the adjoining rural areas of Thane. In Mumbai, population samples from the upper middle, lower middle, and lower class were selected. Caries experience was measured according to WHO criteria and a structured questionnaire interview with the 12-year-olds only was conducted to obtain information on exposure to oral health risk factors.

Results:

The mean dmft scores for the 6-year-olds was 2.33 (sd, 3.28) and 45.1% were caries free. Caries experience was almost 50% higher among urban poor children compared with children from the upper middle class. For 12-year-olds, the mean DMFT score was 0.60 (SD, 1.06) and 65.3% were caries-free. Similarly, caries experience was almost 50% higher in urban poor children compared with upper middle class and rural children. Caries experience in 12-year-olds was associated with tooth brushing frequency, sugar exposure, and socio-demographic factors interpreted as urbanization.

Conclusion:

Caries prevalence and experience in Mumbai children across four socio-demographic groups is low, however, social inequality in oral health across these groups is evident. The poorer oral health of the urban poor deserves attention, especially when more than half of the Mumbai population lives in slum conditions. An appropriate population health approach to combat the ill-effects of urbanization on general and oral health should be the goal of the Indian Government.