What is the average DMFT in school-age children (age 5-17)?

• A. 0.5
• B. 1.97
• C. 2.5
• D. 3.0

Answer: (B)

DMFT measures caries experience in the permanent dentition by counting teeth that are decayed, missing due to caries, or filled. The average is calculated across a population, so it reflects, on average, how many teeth per child have been affected.

For school-age children aged 5–17, the commonly cited mean DMFT is about 1.97, meaning that, on average, each child has roughly two teeth that have been affected by caries (whether currently decayed, missing because of caries, or filled). This aligns with global benchmarks and with the idea that caries experience generally sits around the low-to-mid single digits on average for this age range.

The other numbers would indicate a notably lower or higher burden than typically observed across populations in this age group, so they don’t fit as the best estimate for the average.