Caries experience and oral hygiene status of blind, deaf and mentally retarded female children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the caries experience and oral hygiene status in blind, deaf and mentally retarded female children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.


METHODS
All (N=218) the 6-7-year-old and 11-12-year-old blind, deaf and mentally retarded female children registered with the Presidency of Girls' Education schools in Riyadh were examined for dental caries and oral hygiene in a dental operatory setting.


RESULTS
All (100%) the blind 6-7-year-old had caries with a mean dmft score of 6.58 (SD 2.02). The caries prevalence in blind 11-12-year-olds was 88.2% with a mean DMFT score of 3.89 (SD 2.67). Among 6-7-year-old blind children 8.3 %, and in 11-12-year-old blind children 29.4% had good oral hygiene. The caries prevalence in deaf 6-7-year-olds was 95.7% with a mean dmft score of 7.35 (SD 3.51). The caries prevalence in 11-12-year-old deaf children was 93% with a mean DMFT of 5.12 (SD 3.45). Less than one-fifth (17.4%) of the 6-7-year-old deaf children and only 7.0% of 11-12-year-old deaf children had good oral hygiene. The caries prevalence in mentally retarded 6-7-year-old was 93.9% with a mean dmft of 8.00 (SD 4.1). All the mentally retarded 11-12-year-old had carious teeth with a mean DMFT score of 5.81 (SD 2.95). Only 3.1% of the mentally retarded 6-7-year-old and none of the mentally retarded 11-12-year-olds had good oral hygiene.


CONCLUSIONS
Caries prevalence and severity in all the three groups of female special children were very high, and the number of children with good oral hygiene was very low.
Al-Qahtani
Z
Z
Presidency of Girls' Education, Riyadh.
Wyne
A H
AH
D001766:Blindness / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D003638:Deafness / Q000150:complications; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000209:etiology*; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000150:complications; D009910:Oral Hygiene / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012529:Saudi Arabia