Dental caries and nutritional status among playgroup, kindergarten, and elementary school students: A study in Bina Talenta Graha School, Bekasi

Abstract

Background: Dental caries remains a widespread public health issue in pediatric populations that can severely impair oral function, school performance, and overall growth. School-based dental and anthropometric screenings offer a critical pathway for early detection, oral health promotion, and longitudinal monitoring. This study aimed to evaluate dental caries prevalence, tooth-level disease severity, and nutritional status among playgroup (PG), kindergarten (KG), and elementary school (ES) students at Bina Talenta Graha School, Bekasi, Indonesia, and to compare oral health outcomes across a two-year outreach intervention (2023 vs. 2025).

Methods: A two-phase repeated cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2023 and December 2025 during community service programs. In the 2025 screening cohort ( ; , , ), student-level caries experience (presence of decayed [D], missing [M], and filled [F] teeth) and tooth-level counts were assessed by calibrated dental professionals. Anthropometric measurements ( ) were evaluated using Weight-for-Age (WFA for PG/KG) and BMI-for-Age (BAZ for ES) Z-scores based on WHO standards. Comparative longitudinal trends in student-level disease burden between 2023 and 2025 were analyzed descriptively.

Results: In 2025, overall student-level caries prevalence was 59.1% ( ), missing teeth prevalence was 11.9% ( ), and filled teeth prevalence was 14.0% ( ). Caries prevalence peaked in kindergarten (67.3%), followed by playgroup (62.5%) and elementary school (55.4%). Missing teeth were most frequent in kindergarten (25.5%), whereas playgroup children had no missing or filled teeth. At the tooth level, 402 decayed teeth, 46 missing teeth, and 44 filled teeth were recorded (total 492 affected teeth; mean 2.55 affected teeth/child). Caries occurred across all nutritional categories, with the highest burden observed in normal-weight (70.8%) and overweight/obese (26.7%) children. Between 2023 and 2025, the number of students with untreated active caries decreased from 171 to 114 (a 33.3% reduction), and students with missing teeth dropped from 69 to 23 (a 66.7% reduction).

Conclusion: Dental caries remains a major burden among young school children, particularly in kindergarten. Integrated school-based oral health promotion, structured toothbrushing programs, and parental involvement demonstrated notable reductions in active caries and premature tooth loss over two years.