Oral health status of people with intellectual disabilities in the southeastern United States.
BACKGROUND
The U.S. surgeon general's report, Oral Health in America, stated that people living below the poverty level and those with mental retardation and/or physical disabilities have poorer oral health than the general population.


METHODS
The calibrated examiners (volunteer dentists and dental students) assessed the oral health status of intellectually disabled people with or without a physical disability via screening examinations provided to 12,099 Special Olympics athletes at 53 sites, including 1891 people from seven states in the southeastern United States. Measurements of gingivitis, untreated decay, missing molars, sealants, restorations and treatment urgency were recorded.


RESULTS
The authors found that athletes from the very poor southeastern states were 1.6 times (odds ratio [OR] = 1.64; 95 percent confidence interval [CI]: 1.10 to 2.46) more likely to have restorations and almost one-third as likely (OR = 0.35; 95 percent CI: 0.21 to 0.60) to have sealants than were athletes from the poor states, after restricting the analysis by age.


CONCLUSIONS
Among intellectually disabled people in this study, oral health disparities were associated with poverty. Special Olympics athletes from the poorest states were significantly more likely to have restorations and less likely to have received preventive treatment.
Pezzementi
Maureen L
ML
Department of Comprehensive Dentistry, University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Dentistry, AL 35294, USA. maureen_pezzementi@cs1.dental.uab.edu
Fisher
Monica A
MA
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005891:Gingivitis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008963:Molar / Q000473:pathology; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009909:Oral Health; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019989:Persons with Intellectual Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015144:Southeastern United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology
D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants