Back ground: Dental caries is a preventable oral disease in children and its prevention can only be effective when the pattern is known. There is paucity of this information in South - South Nigeria.
Aim & objectives: To describe the pattern of dental caries in Nigerian children in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Design of the study: A Retrospective study.
Setting: Paediatric Dental clinic, University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Materials and methods: The dental records of 334 patients that attended the dental clinic in 2013 were reviewed for the following information: socio demography, oral hygiene practices, dietary habits and presence and pattern of dental caries.
Results: One hundred and forty two (42.5%) children had dental caries during the study period. They consisted of 65 (45.8%) males and 77 (54.2%) females with a mean age of 9.14 (+ 3.94) years and a range of 1to16years. Majority (78.5%) cleaned their teeth once a day and 83.3% of the children below seven years of age cleaned their teeth by themselves. All the children ingested refined carbohydrates in varying frequencies. The 5 to 9 year age cohort was 43% of those who had dental caries. Most of the carious lesions were located on the occlusal surfaces (61.2%) while the least sites (1.2%) were the lingual surfaces in both dentitions. The carious lesions were more in the posterior teeth of the lower jaw. There were no anterior teeth affected in the permanent dentition. There was an association between the age and the severity of caries (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The occlusal surface was the commonest occurrence site of the dental caries, therefore the children at risk of developing caries will benefit more from dental sealants placement.
Keywords: Dental caries; Nigerian children; Pattern; Port Harcourt.