Title

Prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and fluorosis among school children in rural schools: A cross sectional study

Authors

Debadrita Ghosh¹, Kolasani Balaram², P. Kanchan Malawat³, Shiprita Kumari⁴, Saurabh Shekhar⁵, Anagha Agrawal⁶ Rahul Tiwari⁷,* & M.C Prashant⁷

Affiliation

¹Department of Pediatric & Preventive Dentistry, Haldia institute of Dental Sciences & Research (HIDSAR), West Bengal, India; ²Department of Dentistry, General Dentist, Aspen Dental, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States; ³Department of Dentistry, Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India; ⁴Department of Human Anatomy, AIMST University, Bedong, Kedah, Malaysia; ⁵Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology, AIMST University, Bedong, Kedah, Malaysia; ⁶Department of Public Health Dentistry, Narsinhbhai Patel Dental College and Hospital, Sankalchand Patel University, Visnagar, Gujarat, India; ⁷Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, RKDF Dental College and Research Centre, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India; *Corresponding author

Email

Debadrita Ghosh - E-mail: debadrita.ghosh12@gmail.com

Kolasani Balaram - E-mail: kolasanibalaramdds@gmail.com

Kanchan Malawat P - E-mail: kanchanpanwar15@gmail.com

Shiprita Kumari - E-mail: singhshiprita@gmail.com

Saurabh Shekhar - E-mail: saurabhshekhar2001@gmail.com

Anagha Agrawal - E-mail: dranagha19851301@gmail.com

Rahul Tiwari - E-mail: drrahulvctiwari@gmail.com

M.C Prashant - E-mail: pillaiprasant@yahoo.com

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received June 1, 2026; Revised June 30, 2026; Accepted June 30, 2026, Published June 30, 2026

Abstract

Oral diseases such as dental caries, gingivitis and fluorosis remain highly prevalent among school children, particularly in rural populations where access to preventive dental care is limited. Therefore, it is of interest to assess the prevalence of dental caries, gingivitis and dental fluorosis among school-aged children attending rural schools through a cross-sectional epidemiological survey. A total of 300 school children aged 6–15 years were clinically examined using standardized indices including the DMFT index, gingival index and Dean’s fluorosis index. Dental caries was the most common oral condition observed, followed by gingivitis and dental fluorosis, with notable variations according to age and gender. Thus, data shows the continued burden of preventable oral diseases in rural populations and emphasize the need for school-based oral health programs and preventive strategies.

Keywords

Dental caries; gingivitis; dental fluorosis; rural school children; oral health epidemiology

Citation

Ghosh et al. Bioinformation 22(6): 3609-3613 (2026)

Edited by

Vini Mehta  

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.