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Correlation of manual dexterity and comprehension with oral hygiene and periodontal status in mentally handicapped adults
Author(s) -
Shaw Linda,
Shaw Michael Jeremy,
Foster Thomas Donald
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
community dentistry and oral epidemiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.061
H-Index - 101
eISSN - 1600-0528
pISSN - 0301-5661
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1989.tb00608.x
Subject(s) - medicine , comprehension , oral hygiene , test (biology) , oral health , dentistry , correlation , physical therapy , paleontology , philosophy , linguistics , geometry , mathematics , biology
Although there is relatively little information concerning the oral health of handicapped adults there is increasing evidence to suggest that their oral condition, particularly periodontal health, is poor. The present investigation involved assessment of 382 handicapped patients attending four different Adult Training Centres in Birmingham. The caries status, oral hygiene, and periodontal conditions were evaluated and the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Need (CPITN) was calculated. In order to assess the manual dexterity and the comprehension of the trainees a standard test was devised. This consisted of timing each participant in carrying out simple instructions to pick up and position certain common objects. The results indicated high levels of plaque, calculus, and bleeding with a mean CPITN of 7.43. The mean time taken for the manual dexterity and comprehension test was 23.9 seconds with a range from 10 to 80 seconds, S.E. ± 1.33. This compares with results from 34 “normal” adults of a mean time of 8.2 seconds ± 1.8 with a range of 6 to 12 seconds. There was no significant correlation between the Manual Dexterity and Comprehension scores and the periodontal indices in the handicapped adults