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Objective: To assess the dental health status and treatment needs among children of 'Pardhi' tribal community., Methods: A total of 185 children were examined over a period of 2 months using WHO proforma. The statistical software namely SPSS version 15.0 and data was analyzed using Student's t-test and ANOVA test at p < 0.05., Results: The mean score for dft and DMFT was 1.87 ± 1.073 and 2.04 ± 1.564 respectively with males subjects were having comparatively more scores. It was also found significant differences between age groups. Most of the children needed one surface filling, i.e. 29.40%, followed by pulp care and restoration (19.30%), two or more surface fillings (15.60%) and extraction (11.70%)., Clinical Significance: The study subjects were characterized by a lack of dental care services, high prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs. Therefore, implementation of a basic oral health care program for this tribal population is a high priority.

The DMF index provides one source of information on past and present dental caries experience; however, important limitations hinder its ability to characterize fully the impact of dental caries. The purpose of this paper is to describe a measure of selected restoration and tooth conditions that supplements information from the DMF index and to report on the application of this measure as part of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, Phase 1, conducted between 1988 and 1991. Data from this survey were used to estimate the prevalence and severity of selected disaggregated physical and biological oral conditions among dentate adults aged 18 to 74 years. Trained, standardized, and calibrated dentist examiners assessed 28 permanent teeth or tooth spaces for each of 6,767 subjects. Teeth or tooth spaces were classified based on criteria for: defective intracoronal restorations, crowns, or bridges; gross loss of tooth structure associated with a restoration; pulpal involvement; or retained roots. Approximately 40.5%, or 61.6 million, dentate adults had at least one tooth or tooth space that met the criteria. Among all persons, an average of 0.9 teeth or tooth spaces met the criteria for at least one category. Adults with at least one scored tooth or tooth space had an average of 2.2 such teeth or tooth spaces. Data from this assessment supplement information available from the DMF index to provide a broader profile of the impact of dental caries on permanent teeth of US adults.