Dental health of handicapped children; results of a questionnaire to parents

Abstract

A questionnaire survey of parents of handicapped children, to complement a clinical examination, was carried out in 25 special schools in Newcastle and Northumberland. From the data collected a number of important issues are raised. Some parents have to travel greater distances than are necessary given the availability of dental services locally, either because it is more convenient or because their child requires special care. As a result perhaps the frequency of attendance of children with handicaps is poorer than that of normal children. With exceptions, most children were assessed as being amenable to routine dental care, and over one third of wheelchair bound patients claimed to be regular attenders, yet a smaller minority of handicapped child patients were seen routinely in general dental practice, compared with the usual child population. The need for greater efforts on the part of parents, dentists and other health care providers in improving the dental health of handicapped children is underlined.