Objective: To describe the prevalence rate of dental caries in the communities of Jiangsu province, and to provide baseline data guide for oral health care and offer information for the prevention and cure of dental cares. Methods:Referring to WHO’s “Oral Health Surveys Basic Methods”（Fourth Edition） and protocols of the third national survey，multistage, stratified, equal capacity and simple random sampling method was performed. A sample of 3 164 people in 36 communities in Jiangsu was chosen, 1 583 males and 1 581 females. The samples were subdivided into 4 groups as 5,12,35-44 and 65-74 years old. Results: The prevalence rate of deciduous teeth dental caries in 5-year-old children was 69.15% and the deciduous teeth χdmft was 3.49. There was no difference between male and female（P > 0.05）. The prevalence rate of permanent teeth dental caries was 0.51% and the mean number of permanent teeth caries was 0.01. The prevalence rate of permanent teeth dental caries in 12, 35-44 and 65-74 year old people was 27.02%, 59.37% and 77.75% respectively. The mean number of permanent teeth dental caries in 12-,35-44 and 65-74-year old was 0.47, 1.76 and 3.81 respectively. The prevalence rate of permanent teeth dental caries was higher in female than that in male. The filled rate of deciduous teeth was 2.24%. The prevalence rate filled rate of permanent teeth in the four groups was 0%, 4.61%, 18.39% and 7.06%, respectively averaging 10.16%. Conclusion:Compared with the results of the second national health survey in 1995, the proportions of people in Jiangsu who get dental caries are lower. The mean number of dental caries in 12-year-old people is less than 1.1, which is recognized as very low according to the standard of WHO.