Oral Health Status of Disabled Individuals Oral Health Status of Disabled Individuals Attending Special Schools

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of the dmft-DMFT indexes and the oral hygiene status of 136 individuals attending a special school for the disabled.

Methods: Participants were grouped according to disability [Mental Retardation (MR), Cerebral Palsy (CP), Autistic Disorder (AD), Down Syndrome (DS), Other (OTH)] and age [2-6 years (n=24), 7-12 years (50 children) and 13+ years (62 children]. Caries examinations were carried out in accordance with WHO criteria and oral cleanliness was evaluated by visually assessing the presence of plaque on teeth.

Results: The age range of patients was 2-26 years (mean age: 11.89±5.19 years). Mean dmft and DMFT scores by age group were as follows: 2-6 years: dmft=2.04±2.24; 7-12 years: dmft=2.24±2.60, DMFT=0.98±2.58; 13+years: DMFT=2.68±2.91. Overall, 15.4% of children had no caries or fillings. While dmft and DMFT levels (P>.05) did not vary significantly by type of disability, oral cleanliness did. Children with autism were observed to maintain the best oral hygiene and those with mental retardation (MR), the poorest.

Conclusions: It is important for the dentist to concentrate on a preventive approach and provide proper dental education to parents of disabled individuals. Among the children with disabilities, more attention should be paid to the oral hygiene of MR group. (Eur J Dent 2010;4:361-366)

Keywords

Disabled individual - Oral health - Caries - Oral plaque

• REFERENCES

• 1 Bernier JC. Parental adjustment to a disabled child: a family-system perspective, families in society. Fam Soc 1990; 71: 589-596
• 2 Baykan Z. Causes and prevention of disabilities, handicaps, and defects. J Cont Med Educ 2003; 9: 336-338
• 3 Aytaç HS. Increasing importance of rehabilitation of the disabled child. J Dokuz Eylül Univ Soc Sci 2000; 2: 21-35
• 4 Siklos S, Kerns KA. Assessing the diagnostic experiences of a small sample of parents of children with autism spectrum disorders. Res Dev Disabil 2007; 28: 9-22
• 5 Faulks D, Hennequin M. Evaluation of a long-term oral health program by carers of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Spec Care Dentist 2000; 20: 199-208
• 6 Beange H. Caring for a vulnerable population: Who will take responsibility for those getting a raw deal from the health care system?. Med J Aust 1996; 164: 159-160
• 7 Gordon SM, Dionne RA, Snyder J. Dental fear and anxiety as a barrier to accessing oral health care among patients with special health care needs. Spec Care Dentist 1998; 18: 88-92
• 8 Scott A, March L, Stokes ML. A survey of oral health in a population of adults with developmental disabilities: Comparison with a national oral health survey of the general population. Aust Dent J 1998; 43: 257-261
• 9 Cumella S, Ransford N, Lyons J, Burnham H. Needs for oral care among people with intellectual disability not in contact with Community Dental Services. J Intellect Disabil Res 2000; 44: 45-52
• 10 Reichard A, Turnbull HR, Turnbull AP. Perspectives of dentists, families, and case managers on dental care for individuals with developmental disabilities in Kansas. Ment Retard 2001; 39: 268-285
• 11 World Health. Organization Oral Health Surveys: Basic Methods. 4th edn. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1997: 39-44
• 12 Silness J, Löe H. Periodontal disease in pregnancy. II. Correlation between oral hygiene and periodontal condition. Acta Odontol Scand 1964; 22: 121-135
• 13 Faulks D, Hennequin M. Evaluation of a long-term oral health program by carers of children and adults with intellectual disabilities. Spec Care Dentist 2000; 20: 119-208
• 14 Jurek GH, Reid WH. Oral health of institutionalized individuals with mental retardation. Am J Ment Retard 1994; 98: 656-660
• 15 Shyama M, Al-Mutawa SA, Morris RE, Sugathan T, Honkala E. Dental caries experience of disabled children and young adults in Kuwait. Community Dent Health 2001; 18: 181-186
• 16 Gizani S, Declerck D, Vinkier F, Martens L, Marks L, Goffin G. Oral health condition of 12-year-old handicapped children in Flanders (Belgium). Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1997; 25: 352-357
• 17 Al-Qahtani Z, Wyne AH. Caries experience and oral hygiene status of blind, deaf and mentally retarded female children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Odontostomatol Trop 2004; 27: 37-40
• 18 van CMHoutem, de AJongh, Broers DL, van der MSchoof, Resida GH. Post-academic specialties 9. Dental care of disabled children living at home. Ned Tijdschr Tandheelkd 2007; 114: 129-133
• 19 Lindemann R, Zaschel-Grob D, Opp S, Lewis MA, Lewis C. Oral health status of adults from a California regional center for developmental disabilities. Spec Care Dentist 2001; 21: 9-14
• 20 Marshall RI, Bartold PM. A clinical review of drug-induced gingival overgrowths. Aust Dent J 1999; 44: 219-232
• 21 Burtner AP, Dicks JL. Providing oral health care to individuals with severe disabilities residing in the community: alternative care delivery systems. Spec Care Dentist 1994; 14: 188-193
• 22 Farsi N. Dental caries in relation to salivary factors in Saudi population groups. J Contemp Dent Pract 2008; 9: 16-23
• 23 Goe LC, Baysac MA, Todd KH, Linton JA. Assessing the prevalence of dental caries among elementary school children in North Korea: a cross-sectional survey in the Kangwon province. Int J Dent Hyg 2005; 3: 112-116
• 24 Zusman SP, Ramon T, Natapov L, Kooby E. Dental health of 12-year-olds in Israel-2002. Community Dent Health 2005; 22: 175-179
• 25 Lukacs JR, Largaespada LL. Explaining sex differences in dental caries prevalence: saliva, hormones, and "life-history" etiologies. Am J Hum Biol 2006; 18: 540-555
• 26 Shaw L, Maclaurin ET, Foster TD. Dental study of handicapped children attending special schools in Birmingham, UK. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1986; 14: 24-27
• 27 Martens L, Marks L, Goffin G, Gizani S, Vinckier F, Declerck D. Oral hygiene in 12-year-old disabled children in Flanders, Belgium, related to manual dexterity. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 2000; 28: 73-80
• 28 Ertuðrul F, Elbek-Cubukcu C, Sabah E, Mir S. The oral health status of children undergoing hemodialysis treatment. Turk J Pediatr 2003; 45: 108-113
• 29 Gökalp S, Doðan BG, Tekçiçek M, Berberoðlu A, Ünlüer Þ. Beþ, on iki ve on beþ yaþ çocuklarýn aðýz diþ saðlýðý profile, Türkiye-2004. Hacettepe Diþhekimliði Fakültesi Dergisi 2007; 31: 3-10