Objective To ascertain the dental caries status of primary school pupils in Taizhou, analyze the relationship between dental caries and growth and development of children, providing the basis for prevention and control of children′s carries.

Methods Statistical analysis was conducted on the information of pupil′s dental caries, height, weight and age obtained from the comprehensive health monitoring data on primary school pupils during 2013-2016 in Taizhou.

Results During 2013-2016, the pupil′s dental caries rates were 36.8%-49.9%, the mean DMFT being 1.1-1.3, and the dental caries filling rate were 2.8%-7.7%.The dental caries rate reached its peak in pupils at the age of 7-9 years and decreased at the age of 10-12.The height and weight of the pupils in the caries group were significantly lower than those in the no-caries group adjusted for age and gender (P < 0.01).In the caries group, the incidence of marasmus was significantly higher than that in the no-caries group (3.3% vs 2.6%, P < 0.01), and the incidence of obesity was significantly lower than that in the no-caries group (10.4% vs 14.6%).

Conclusion The prevalence of dental caries in primary school pupils in Taizhou is at low level, while the treatment rate of caries is also low.Dental caries are possibly related to the growth and development of children.It should be emphasized to strengthen the propaganda and education of the children′s dental caries prevention and treatment.