Dental caries experience and restorative needs among young, Middle-Aged and elderly rural women associated with Self-Help Groups-An explorative study

Dental caries is an infectious disease affecting the teeth, which can be debilitating and have a negative impact on the general health of the patient. It can be controlled and halted with timely intervention. Objective-To estimate the dental caries status and restorative needs among rural women of various age groups who are associated with self-help groups in Mangalore taluk, India. Material and method-A total number of 605 rural women were selected for the study. 228 women between 20-35 years, 286 women between 36-50 years and 91 women between 51-65 years were examined. Decayed, Missing and Filled teeth (DMFT) index were recorded along with treatment needs. The data was collected using the WHO Oral Health Assessment Form(1997). Data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis by SPSS version 16 (SPSS Inc., Chicago IL) and descriptive statistics was obtained Results-The mean DMFT index among the rural women examined was 10.51±4.01.The lowest mean DMFT was observed in the younger age group (9.26±4.01) and highest DMFT was recorded among older age group at 14.16±7.19. The treatment needs among younger age group was one surface filling (63.15%) and need for replacement increased with age (75.82%) Conclusion-Results indicated significantly high levels of decayed, missing teeth which create the definite need for restorative care. There is a need to create awareness among rural women about restorative care so that there is retention of more number of functional teeth and also the replacement of missing teeth.