Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs among Differently Abled Children

The provision of dental services to children with special health care needs historically has been given limited attention by the dental profession. Under diagnosis and differential oral health treatment contribute to the poor oral health of adults with disabilities. The present study was undertaken to assess the oral health status and behaviour among differently abled children. Methodology: The study sample comprised of 317 subjects who were disabled and attending special schools. All the teeth were examined for dental caries. Mouth mirrors and CPI probes were used according to the WHO criteria. Clinical assessment of the oral health status was done by using the simplified oral hygiene index, DMFT. Chi square test and ANOVA were used to compare categorical variables. Results: The study consists of 317 intellectually disabled (ID) children, divided into three groups, out of which 65 (20.50%), 184 (58.04%) and 68 (21.45%) were suffering from autism, cerebral palsy and mental retardation respectively. Irrespective of the type of disability, most of the subjects consulted dentist only in need. The decayed teeth in subjects with mental retardation, cerebral palsy and autism were 2.37±1.01, 1.91±1.50 and 1.75±1.11 respectively and 58.82% of the mentally retarded subjects reported with poor oral hygiene status. Conclusion: In comparison with normal children, the disabled subjects were not given enough dental care with respect to their treatment needs. Taking into consideration the multi factorial influence on oral health status of the present disabled population, oral health promotion and intervention programs should be targeted and concentrated towards these risk groups.