title: Dental caries status of inmates in central prison, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To understand the dental health among prison inmates, we assessed the dental caries status of central prison inmates in Chennai, India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1060 inmates from three divisions of the central prison in Chennai were assessed by a single investigator for dental caries status based on World Health Organization specifications.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among the inmates, 58.2% of males and 54.2% of females had decayed teeth. About 4.1% of males and 2.9% of females had filled teeth. The mean decayed, missing, filled teeth index was 5.1 and 3.9 for female and male prisoners, respectively. The prevalence of dental caries was highest among inmates younger than 24 years age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study suggests that a high proportion of prison inmates was affected by dental caries, which necessitates the need for initiating oral health promotion activities among prison inmates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Pushpagiri College of Dental Sciences, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Benley
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: John
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saravanan
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College, Saveetha University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
authors.forename: I Meignana
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Arumugham
authors.affiliation: Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Pushpagiri College of Dental Sciences, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Minimol K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Johny
keywords: Dental caries; oral health; prisoners; prisons