Oral health status and treatment needs of children attending special schools in South India: a comparative study.
The aim of this study was to assess and compare oral health status and treatment needs of children with special healthcare needs (SHCN) between the ages of 5 and 15, with a matched group of healthy children, in Udupi District of South India. A cross-sectional study of 265 children with SHCN was compared to 310 healthy children to assess differences in periodontal status, dentition status, treatment needs, and dentofacial anomalies using the WHO criteria. Chi-square, t-test, and Z-tests were performed to compare different variables. p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. A significantly higher prevalence of caries (89.1%), malocclusion, and poorer periodontal status was observed among children with SHCN compared to the healthy control group. Improving the oral health of these children will require maintaining good oral hygiene practices, which can be achieved with appropriate target-based oral health approaches.
Department of Community Dentistry, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal, Karnataka, India. bharathipurohit@yahoo.com
Bharathi M
BM
Purohit
Shashidhar
S
Acharya
Meghashyam
M
Bhat
D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008310:Malocclusion / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009909:Oral Health; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012016:Reference Values