Dental Caries Experience and Associated Factors Among Underprivileged Children Attending Community Dental Outreach Camps in Lahore, Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Dental caries remains a common preventable oral disease among children in socioeconomically disadvantaged communities, where limited access to preventive care, suboptimal oral hygiene, frequent sugar exposure, and low oral health literacy may increase untreated disease burden. Objective: To estimate the prevalence and severity of dental caries among underprivileged school-going children aged 5–15 years in an urban slum setting of Lahore, Pakistan, and to explore associations with selected behavioral and sociodemographic factors. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional analysis used anonymized oral health screening data from 160 children who attended a previously conducted community dental outreach camp at Door of Awareness School, Lahore. Dental caries experience was assessed using DMFT for permanent teeth and DEFT for primary teeth. Demographic characteristics, brushing frequency, sugary snack intake, and parental education were recorded. Descriptive statistics were used to estimate prevalence and mean caries scores, while Chi-square tests assessed exploratory associations; p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Overall, 112 children had dental caries, giving a prevalence of 70.0% (95% CI: 63.1–76.9). Mean DMFT was 1.42 ± 1.1 and mean DEFT was 2.08 ± 1.3, with decayed teeth forming the largest component of both indices. Caries prevalence was significantly associated with once-daily brushing (p = 0.02), sugary snack intake more than twice daily (p = 0.01), and illiterate parental education (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Dental caries was highly prevalent in this underserved pediatric population, with untreated decay forming the dominant disease component. School- and community-based preventive strategies integrating oral hygiene education, dietary counseling, parental engagement, and referral for dental care are needed