Oral findings of Down syndrome children in Chennai city, India.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the common oral findings and anomalies of Down syndrome (DS) children in Chennai city, India.


METHODS
Among the 130 DS children examined, 102 children aged 15 years and below were included in the study. There were 57 male children and 45 female children in the total study sample. A specially prepared case record was used to record the following findings in each child: a brief family and personal history; anomalies of soft tissues, teeth, occlusion, and temporomandibular joint. Age wise and sex wise comparisons of the findings were done.


RESULTS
About 97 children (95%) had the habit of regular tooth brushing. Everted lower lip (66%), retained primary teeth (31%), and midface deficiency (76%) were the most commonly seen soft tissue, dental, and occlusion anomalies, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Midface deficiency was the most common orofacial anomaly seen in these children, followed by everted lower lip and retained primary teeth. Almost all the children had a regular tooth brushing habit. All the children examined were offered free dental treatment in our dental college.
Asokan
Sharath
S
Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Meenakshi Ammal Dental College, Chennai - 600 095, Tamil Nadu, India. asokansharath@yahoo.com
Muthu
M S
MS
Sivakumar
N
N
D000293:Adolescent; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004314:Down Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005147:Facial Bones / Q000002:abnormalities; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D007223:Infant; D008047:Lip Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000453:epidemiology; D009056:Mouth Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D014071:Tooth Abnormalities / Q000453:epidemiology; D014076:Tooth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000002:abnormalities; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data