title: Oral health needs of athletes with intellectual disability in Eastern Europe: Poland, Romania and Slovenia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to evaluate the oral condition and treatment needs of Special Olympics (SO) athletes from Poland, Romania and Slovenia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was performed with data collected through standardised oral screening of athletes who participated in the annual SO events held in Poland, Romania and Slovenia, between 2011 and 2012. The data were compiled and transferred to an SPSS data file for analysis using descriptive statistics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 3,545 athletes participated in the study. Among the main findings, the prevalence of untreated decay was 41% in Poland and 61% in Slovenia, whilst 70% of the Romanian athletes had signs of gingival disease and only 3.8% presented molar fissure sealants. In addition, 47% of Polish athletes were in need of urgent treatment.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Analysis of the results obtained following screening showed comparable oral health needs of athletes with intellectual disability among countries. Exploration of the oral health systems of the countries revealed similar significant co-payments and lack of incentive for dentists to treat patients with special needs. The results from Romania, Poland and Slovenia demonstrated the need for a structured system in which a special population is a target for oral-health-related education programmes and system-included preventive, restorative and maintenance interventions.
authors.affiliation: Centre of Special Care in Dentistry, PAECOMEDIS, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernandez Rojas
authors.affiliation: Special Olympics Special Smiles Poland, Department of General Dentistry, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Kaja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wichrowska-Rymarek
authors.affiliation: Special Olympics Special Smiles Slovenia, Department of Paediatric and Preventive Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
authors.forename: Alenka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pavlic
authors.affiliation: Special Olympics Special Smiles Romania, Bucuresti, Romania.
authors.forename: Arina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vinereanu
authors.affiliation: Special Olympics Special Smiles Poland, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fabjanska
authors.affiliation: Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Germany, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Imke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kaschke
authors.affiliation: Centre of Special Care in Dentistry, PAECOMEDIS, Ghent University Hospital, Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Luc A M
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Marks
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003730:Dental Care for Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000453:epidemiology; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D009050:Fluorosis, Dental / Q000453:epidemiology; D005882:Gingival Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008607:Intellectual Disability; D008297:Male; D009066:Mouth, Edentulous / Q000453:epidemiology; D009909:Oral Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011044:Poland / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012383:Romania / Q000453:epidemiology; D017524:Slovenia / Q000453:epidemiology; D013177:Sports; D018677:Tooth Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D016388:Tooth Loss / Q000453:epidemiology; D014098:Toothache / Q000453:epidemiology; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010895:Pit and Fissure Sealants
keywords: Eastern Europe; Oral health; disability