title: A comparison of oral health in spinal cord injury and other disability groups.
abstract: A controlled pilot study determined oral health in persons with quadriplegia due to spinal cord injury, and compared dental disease rates in spinal cord injury and other disability groups. Seventeen adults with spinal cord injury and 17 controls were assessed for dental/medical/social history; manual function; head, neck, and oral lesions; salivary flow; DMFS; and gingivitis, periodontal pockets, plaque, and calculus. Findings were compared with those from prior studies according to the same protocol, for groups of similar age with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, and chronic mental illness. No significant differences between spinal cord injury and control subjects were noted, except that fewer spinal cord injury subjects brushed daily or flossed (p < 0.05); dependent subjects tended to have more plaque and gingivitis than those brushing independently. Subjects with spinal cord injury and mental illness had less gingivitis than those with mental retardation and cerebral palsy (p < 0.001); on calculus, subjects with spinal cord injury ranked lower than subjects with mental illness (p < 0.05). On DFS, mentally ill subjects and those with traumatic brain injury ranked higher than mentally retarded and cerebral palsy groups, with spinal cord injury subjects intermediate. Mentally retarded and traumatic-brain-injured subjects had fewer teeth than other groups (p < 0.05). The findings suggest differences in oral health status and oral care for various disabled populations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine, Dental Education in Care of the Disabled (DECOD), University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Stiefel
authors.forename: E L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Truelove
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Persson
authors.forename: M M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Chin
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Mandel
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000150:complications; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000150:complications; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004245:DMF Index; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000150:complications*; D003774:Dental Plaque Index; D005260:Female; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000150:complications; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015995:Prevalence; D011782:Quadriplegia / Q000150:complications*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications*