Abstract: Objective: To investigate the oral health status in undergraduate students from different nationalities, to explore the correlation between their dental caries and periodontal disease, and to guide the undergraduate university students’ oral preventive health care. Methods: 4311 undergraduate students in Northwest University of Nationalities were investigated in this study according to the criterion issued by World Health Organization (WHO) and the third China Oral Health Epidemiology Survey Protocol. The inspection indicators included dental caries, gingivitis and dental calculus. Results: The respective prevalence rates of dental caries, gingivitis and dental calculus were 38.60%, 32.87% and 47.83%. There was significant difference between the males and females on the prevalence rates of dental caries, gingivitis and dental calculus (P< 0.01). The prevalence rates of dental caries in the Tibetan (58.19%), the Mongolian (51.05%), and the Uygur (50.42%) were significantly different from the Han (36.68%), which was also less than other three minority nationalities. There was significant difference (P<0.01) between the prevalence rates of gingivitis in the Uygur (39.08%) and the Han (30.30%). There was significant difference (P<0.01) between the detection rates of dental calculus in the Mongolian (36.82%) and the Han (45.86%). Conclusion: The oral health status of undergraduate students is not ideal, especially for the minority nationalities students. It is necessary to strengthen the oral propaganda education and preventive health care so as to enhance the oral health status of undergraduate students.

Key words: Oral health survey, Dental caries, Gingivitis, Dental calculus, Minority nationalities