Assessing consequences of untreated dental caries using pufa/PUFA index among 6 & #8211;12 years old schoolchildren in a rural population of Kerala

Conclusions: Overall caries prevalence among the total population was found to be 74%. The prevalence of caries in the deciduous dentition was 61% and a mean decayed, missing, filled teeth value of 2.74 ± 3.200 and for the permanent dentition the caries prevalence of 26.8% and a mean Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth of 0.66 ± 1.360 were observed. The prevalence of untreated dental caries (pufa/PUFA) was 40.8%. The pufa prevalence in deciduous dentition was 38.3% with a mean pufa of 0.99 ± 1.679. Moreover, the PUFA prevalence in permanent dentition was 4.1% with a mean PUFA of 0.06 ± 0.349. The highest prevalence of untreated dental caries (pufa/PUFA) was found in the 7 years' age group (52%) and the lowest in 12 years' age group (22.4%).
Source: Journal of Indian Society of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry - Category: Dentistry Authors: Source Type: research