Dental pain as a determinant of expressed need for dental care among 12-year-old school children in India

Objective: We have undertaken a cross-sectional study to assess factors associated with dental pain that determine the expressed needs for dental care among 12-year-old school children in India. Materials and Methods: A total of 2 250 school children were surveyed after being drawn through stratified cluster random sampling. The simultaneous effects of sociodemographic characteristics, pain characteristics, and the impact of pain on the quality of life were studied in association with the expressed needs for dental treatment. Results: Among the studied school children, 71.4% suffered from dental pain, only 27.7% expressed need for dental healthcare. Socioeconomic status (SES) was a statistically significant determinant. Pain characteristics like the severity of pain and pain on eating hot and cold foods were significantly associated with expressed needs. Impact characteristics associated with expressed needs were embarrassment in showing teeth, brushing teeth, and difficulty in eating and drinking. Logistic regression analysis yielded a Nagelkerke R 2 value of 0.106. Conclusion: Important determinants of expressed needs for dental care among the studied population were SES, pain intensity, pain on thermal stimuli, impact characteristics like eating/drinking and embarrassment in showing teeth.