title: Knowledge of care providers regarding the oral health of visually impaired children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the awareness of care providers of visually impaired children regarding their oral hygiene.
  
  
  METHODS
  A simple pre-structured questionnaire was given to the care providers and the awareness regarding their oral health was assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a general lack of awareness among the care providers of these children regarding dental diseases and its prevention. Furthermore, the importance of oral hygiene was found to be very low.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results obtained showed that most of the caretakers were unaware of the difficulties faced by these children in the maintenance of their oral health.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Children Dentistry, A. B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Derlakatte, Mangalore 575018, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Srikala
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhandary
authors.forename: Vabitha
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.forename: Amitha M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Hedge
authors.forename: Kavita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rai
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D017028:Caregivers; D002327:Cariostatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D003729:Dental Care; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000517:prevention & control; D019988:Children with Disabilities; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005459:Fluorides / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D009909:Oral Health; D009910:Oral Hygiene; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014099:Toothbrushing; D014100:Toothpastes / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019987:Persons with Visual Disabilities
chemical_list: D002327:Cariostatic Agents; D014100:Toothpastes; D005459:Fluorides