Oral hygiene and dental caries status of sensory impaired children in Kashmir – A cross sectional descriptive study

Oral health is a vital component of overall health, which contributes to each individual’s wellbeing and quality of life by positively affecting physical and mental healthiness, appearance and interpersonal relations. Individuals with special needs have greater limitations in oral hygiene performance due to their potential motor, sensory and intellectual disabilities and are thus, prone to poor oral health. The present study was planned to determine the prevalence of dental caries, oral hygiene, malocclusion and traumatic injuries in sensory impaired children. A total of 104 children, within the age group of 5-16 years attending special Deaf and Dumb school in Tulsibagh, Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir were included in the present study. Prior to the examination of children a written formal permission was taken from the administrative authorities of the selected school. A type III examination was carried out, DMFT index was used in the permanent teeth while for the primary teeth the ‘deft’ index was used. Oral hygiene Index-Simplified was used for assessment of oral hygiene status. The mean deft in the blind population was 2.51 and mean DMFT was 2.64, while in the deaf/dumb group mean deft was 2.17 and mean DMFT was 2.20. Caries prevalence in group A (blind) was found to be higher (78%) as compared to the deaf/dumb (72 %). The oral hygiene of the blind group (4.22) showed higher OHI-S score showing that this group had poor oral hygiene as compared to the deaf / dumb group (3.81). Trauma was more common in blind group. It can be concluded that the prevalence of dental diseases especially dental caries plaque and debris is slightly high that seen in the normal children (60-70%) and that there is a need for administration of proper professional dental treatment in these children.