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Research Article
Yaowaluk Ngoenwiwatkul
Mahidol University
Corresponding Author
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background:
Children with physical disabilities are at greater risk of health problems including oral health. Dental caries is the most common among the aforementioned group and requires special dental treatments procedures. However, it is less clear on the severity of oral health problems among children with disabilities when compared to the general population. This study aimed to determine the current oral health status of children with disabilities aged 11-13 years and compared with general public schoolchildren of the same age. In this study, special needs children are referred to as children who have various physical disabilities and need specialized services or help.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 158 children (79 special needs and 79 general public schoolchildren) aged 11-13 years studying in special needs and general public schools in Kathmandu and Lalitpur Districts, Nepal. Dental examination was performed by using a mouth mirror and a probe according to WHO criteria and methods (1997).
Results: Among the 79 special needs children, there were visually impaired (16.5%), hearing and speech impaired (25.3%), and orthopedically challenged (58.2%). Prevalence of dental caries among special needs children was high (75.9%) as compared to that of general public schoolchildren (65.8%). The means DMFT of special needs and others were 3.07 and 2.59 respectively. The means of Missing teeth between special needs and others were statistically significant (p<0.05). Only 8.8% of special needs children had good oral hygiene while 32.9% of the others had good oral hygiene. Moreover, untreated caries among special needs children was also higher than that of general children 62% compared with 54.4%.
Conclusions: Nepalese special needs children are at higher risk of oral health problems due to their physical limitation in maintaining oral health care. They have poorer oral health compared to general children. Moreover, dental treatment for the group is limited to simple tooth extraction, and most caries is left untreated. It is imperative the policy that extends oral health preventions for children with disabilities into their community be implemented.
Keywords
Dental caries, Oral health, OHI-S, Disability, Missing teeth, Gingivitis
Figure 1
No competing interests reported.
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This is a preprint. It has not completed peer review.
Research Article
Yaowaluk Ngoenwiwatkul
Mahidol University
Corresponding Author
Badges
Prescreen
This manuscript passed our Prescreen assessment
Complete author information
Appropriate declaration statements
Potential risks to human health
Prescreen
History
CURRENT STATUS: Posted
Version 1
Posted 17 Mar, 2021
No community comments so far
Metrics
Comments: 0
PDF Downloads: ...
HTML Views: ...
Subject Areas
Dentistry
License:
This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License. Read Full License
Background:
Children with physical disabilities are at greater risk of health problems including oral health. Dental caries is the most common among the aforementioned group and requires special dental treatments procedures. However, it is less clear on the severity of oral health problems among children with disabilities when compared to the general population. This study aimed to determine the current oral health status of children with disabilities aged 11-13 years and compared with general public schoolchildren of the same age. In this study, special needs children are referred to as children who have various physical disabilities and need specialized services or help.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 158 children (79 special needs and 79 general public schoolchildren) aged 11-13 years studying in special needs and general public schools in Kathmandu and Lalitpur Districts, Nepal. Dental examination was performed by using a mouth mirror and a probe according to WHO criteria and methods (1997).
Results: Among the 79 special needs children, there were visually impaired (16.5%), hearing and speech impaired (25.3%), and orthopedically challenged (58.2%). Prevalence of dental caries among special needs children was high (75.9%) as compared to that of general public schoolchildren (65.8%). The means DMFT of special needs and others were 3.07 and 2.59 respectively. The means of Missing teeth between special needs and others were statistically significant (p<0.05). Only 8.8% of special needs children had good oral hygiene while 32.9% of the others had good oral hygiene. Moreover, untreated caries among special needs children was also higher than that of general children 62% compared with 54.4%.
Conclusions: Nepalese special needs children are at higher risk of oral health problems due to their physical limitation in maintaining oral health care. They have poorer oral health compared to general children. Moreover, dental treatment for the group is limited to simple tooth extraction, and most caries is left untreated. It is imperative the policy that extends oral health preventions for children with disabilities into their community be implemented.
Figure 1
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