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. 2017 Dec 19;17(1):154.
doi: 10.1186/s12903-017-0446-6.

Dental and medical health status and oral health knowledge among visually impaired and sighted female schoolchildren in Riyadh: a comparative study

Salwa A AlSadhan  1 , Asma M Al-Jobair  2 , Mariam Bafaqeeh  3 , Hanadi Abusharifa  3 , Maram Alagla  3
Affiliations

Dental and medical health status and oral health knowledge among visually impaired and sighted female schoolchildren in Riyadh: a comparative study

Salwa A AlSadhan et al. BMC Oral Health. .

Abstract

Background: The impact of visual impairment on oral health in the literature is inconclusive, and the available information on the medical and dental health status of visually impaired children is limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the dental and medical health status, and to assess the oral health knowledge of visually impaired girls aged 6-12 years, and compare them to that of sighted children.

Methods: This analytical cross-sectional study was carried out on 79 visually impaired and 83 age-matched sighted female primary school children. The children's demographic data, medical history, and dental history were obtained through a validated questionnaire. The study population was examined to evaluate their dental caries status using the Decayed Missing Filled Teeth/Surface indices DMFT/DMFS/ and dmft/dmfs for permanent and primary teeth, respectively. Oral hygiene index (OHI), Plaque index (PI) and gingival index (GI) were obtained for periodontal evaluation. Pearson's Chi-square test and t-test were used for the statistical analyses.

Results: The general health for both groups was found to be good; however, 21.5% of the visually impaired children had systemic diseases compared with only 4.8% of the sighted children (P = 0.002). Statistically significant differences (P < 0.001) were found between the two groups with regards to OHI. Among the sighted children, 49.4% had good oral hygiene compared with only 22.8% of the visually impaired group. The plaque accumulation was found to be greater among the visually impaired group and gingivitis was also higher. The DMFS score was found to be higher (P = 0.03) among the visually impaired group.

Conclusions: The visually impaired children had more medical conditions and poorer oral health status compared to their sighted peers.

Keywords: Gingival scores; Oral health; Plaque scores; Visually impaired children.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from the CDRC (Ethical Committee of the College of Dentistry Research Center) at King Saud University (Reg. No. IR0099). Permission letters were obtained from the Ministry of Education and were forwarded to the school’s authorities to allow the distribution of questionnaires and examination of the children.

The objectives of the study and its protocol were explained on the questionnaire’s cover page, and the parents’ responding to the questionnaire was clarified to be considered approval of their children’s participation in the study.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of the study groups according to parents’ education
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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