Aim:The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of dental caries in primary teeth among 4-6 years old school going children in the Namakkal District.Materials and Methods:The study covered a total of 850 school going children in a total of 26 schools in the Namakkal district of Tamil Nadu. The age group selected for this study ranged from 4 to 6 years of age. Each child was examined in their respective schools by one of the four calibrated examiners and decay, missing and filled teeth (dmft) index was recorded along with demographic details. This study was done in September-October 2013 in a span of 1 month duration.Results:Of 850 children examined, 560 (65.88%) children had dental caries. Mean dmft score was 2.86. Prevalence of dental caries was higher in boys (69.6%) than in girls (61.5%). The untreated decay teeth accounted for 92.4%.Conclusion:The prevalence of dental caries among 4-6 years old children is high in the Namakkal district. The need for the creation of dental awareness among children and their primary caregivers is crucial and the need for developing immediate oral health promotion strategies including an increase in school dental health programs is recommended.
The completion of root development and closure of the apex occurs up to 3 years after the eruption of the tooth. The treatment of pulpal injury during this period provides a significant challenge for the clinician. The importance of careful case assessment and accurate pulpal diagnosis in the treatment of immature teeth with pulpal injury cannot be overemphasized. The treatment of choice for necrotic teeth is apexification, which is induction of apical closure to produce more favorable conditions for conventional root canal filling. The most commonly advocated medicament is calcium hydroxide, although recently considerable interest has been expressed in the use of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA). We report a case series wherein calcium hydroxide and MTA were used successfully for one step apexification in teeth with open apex.
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