THE COMPARISON OF ORAL HEALTH PROBLEMS WITH OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS IN URBAN SCHOOL CHILDREN OF 10-14 YEARS.- A GROUP SCREENING

Background: The overall health, well-being, education, learning abilities, development of children, families, and communities can be affected by oral health. However in the developing nations, the importance of oral health in comparison to general health is minimal. The objective was to evaluate and compare the oral health problems in relation to general health problems of the same children by a group screening method. Materials and Methods: A total of 592 children in the age group of 10-14 years were selected from class 6 to 10, the focus initially was on general health screening, vision screening, oral health screening, tonsillar, and auditory screening of students. Among these children, 296 individuals were apparently healthy with no undiagnosed health aliments; the remaining children were having some health problems. Statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test. Results: About 50% of children were apparently healthy, 19.9% had oral health problems, which was considerably higher than other health problems. The general health problems were 15.20%. Conclusion: By conducting such a study, we can know that the awareness and identification of other health problems are in urban school children is higher than the oral health problems. This recommends promoting awareness on the oral health and importance of regular dental check-up in children.