Prevalence of Dental Caries and Its Relationship with Oral Hygiene and Type of Female Schools in Al-Kharj City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of dental caries and its correlation with the oral hygiene status of 6 to 9-year-old school girls studying indifferent types of schools. Materials and methods: A total of (n = 382) subjects were grouped into 4 clusters according to their school type (group 1—Government School (n = 117), group 2—Holy Quran Memorization Schools (n = 62), group 3—Private School (n = 89) and group 4—Boosting Health (n = 114). A single trained, and calibrated examiner recorded dental caries decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT index) by applying WHO diagnosis criteria. Plaque index and gingival index of the study participants were recorded and compared between the groups. All the data were analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 21. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson’s correlation tests were applied. Results: Government school students showed higher mean DMFT score (7.21), PI score (1.81) and gingival index score (1.97) followed by other schools. When mean DMFT scores were compared between the four types of schools no significant difference was found (p = 0.39). On the contrary, the study showed significant differences in the mean GI score ( p = 0.04) and PI score ( p = 0.049) between the four types of schools. DMFT score was found to be significantly correlated with the PI score (r = 0.225, p = 0.000) and GI scores (r = 0.192, p = 0.000). But DMFT did not show any significant correlation with the type of school. Conclusion: This study indicated a high prevalence and severity of dental caries among 6 to 9-year school going female children from Al-Kharj city. Further; it revealed caries experience of the female students is significantly correlated with the plaque deposition on the teeth rather than the type of school. Hence there is a need to implement and evaluate oral health education and promotion programs targeted towards these students.