Dental Caries Status and Treatment Needs in a Prison Setting at Ferozepur City

BACKGROUND: The present survey was carried out to assess the dental caries status and treatment needs among the jail inmates, which would be helpful in planning suitable oral health care services in a prison setting. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on a population of 338 prisoners (males-256, females-82) in the Central Jail, Ferozepur, India. Clinical data were recorded using WHO Oral Health Assessment Form (1997) for assessing dental health status. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 15.0 with Student's t-test and ANOVA test. RESULTS: The prevalence of dental caries was 92.6% with a higher prevalence among female inmates. The mean scores of decayed missing filled teeth (DMFT) increased with advancing age. Around 24.3% of the inmates had root caries and the most common required dental procedure was restorations along with extraction. CONCLUSION: The prison population had high prevalence of dental caries and regular dental care should be provided to this community to improve their dental health status.