Abstract: Objective To investigate the incidence of dental caries in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years in Mianyang, and to analyze the effect of dental caries on dento-maxillofacial deformities. Methods Stratified cluster sampling method was used to select children and adolescents aged 6-18 years from 12 primary and secondary schools in Mianyang. The incidence of dental caries and dento-maxillofacial deformities was examined, and the correlation between dental caries and dento-maxillofacial deformities was analyzed. Results A total of 3 005 children and adolescents were investigated, including 1 589 boys and 1 416 girls, with an average age of （12.06±5.99） years. The prevalence of dental caries was 51.31% （1 542/3 005）. There were significant differences in the prevalence rate of dental caries, mean caries, number of decayed, missing and filled teeth of deciduous teeth/number of decayed, missing and filled teeth of permanent teeth （dmft/DMFT） among different age groups （all P<0.01）, and the prevalence rate of dental caries, mean caries, dmft/DMFT and caries activity test （CAT） among 6-9 years old and 10-12 years old were higher. A total of 1 382 cases of dento-maxillofacial deformities were detected. Logistic regression analysis showed that bad oral habits （OR=2.151）, dental caries （OR=1.690） and more dmft/DMFT （OR=2.061） were correlated with the incidence of dento-maxillofacial deformities in children and adolescents. Conclusion 6-12 years old is the high incidence age of dental caries in children and adolescents in Mianyang. Dental caries and missing teeth due to caries are the risk factors of dento-maxillofacial deformities in children and adolescents aged 6-18 years.

Key words: Dental caries, Decayed, missing and filled teeth, Dento-maxillofacial deformities, Children and adolescents, Oral health