Background: Dental caries is a multifactorial disease. Diet plays an important role in the nutritional status and individual development. Migration of people from rural areas and urbanization cause a change in the lifestyle and dietary habits which in turn affects oral health. Aim: To assess the prevalence of dental caries in junk food-and non-junk food-eating school students among urban and rural schoolchildren in Mayiladuthurai. Objective: To identify the role of dietary habits (type of diet, skipping meals, snacking between meals, and frequency of visits to fast-food restaurants) in occurrence and severity of caries. Materials and methods: In this study, a total of 174 participants were considered, and among them 59 are rural schoolchildren and 115 are urban schoolchildren. Assessment of dental caries based on modern foods was done. A questionnaire was prepared to check the frequency of foods and the student's responses were marked. Results: Among 59 rural schoolchildren, 80% have caries and 20% have no caries. Among 115 urban students, 84% have caries and 16% have no caries. Compared to rural schoolchildren, urban schoolchildren are more affected by dental caries. Conclusion: This study was done to reduce the risk of caries by eliminating the intake of cariogenic food. Our study shows the risk of caries was high among urban schoolchildren.
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