New Delhi: About 30 per cent of the Indians above 65 years do not have a single teeth left owing to lack of oral hygiene, a survey has revealed.

In the first ever 'National Oral Health Survey' conducted by the Dental Council of India, it was found that in 15 out of 18 States covered, 29.5 per cent of the people above 65 years had 'complete edentulousness', DCI chief Dr R K Bali said.

The survey covered 12,810 people in rural and 7,035 people in urban areas in different age groups.

"High prevalence of dental diseases like dental caries, periodontal diseases, various stages of malocclusion coupled with lack of access to basic minimum services leads to the ill-effects," Bali said.

The survey revealed that gum diseases were prevalent in about 68 per cent of children between 12 to 15 years, while about 90 per cent of the population above 35 years suffered from the problem.

There were no significant gender and rural and urban related differentials in the prevalence and pattern of distribution of caries in the population covered, Bali said.

India has a low dentist population with just one qualified dentist for over 36,538 people in the cities. The condition is worse in rural areas where the ratio stands at one dentist for 2,50,000 people.