Oral Health Status and Treatment Needs among Blind Children in Iraq

Abstract

Dental caries is a significant public health problem for a large segment of society. Blind people have been described as those who encounter more visual barriers to the receipt of dental care than other people. They may have greater problems accessing dental care or may be at increased risk from dental disease or its treatment.The present study was conducted to assess the caries prevalence, traumatic injuries, levels of oral hygiene and treatment need, in a group of 58 blind children aged (6-15) years. The results were compared with a control group of 58 age and sex matched normal children. The data were collected using the methods and standards recommended by the WHO for oral health survey, 1997.A highly significant difference between study and controls concerning DMFT and dmft, dental caries was higher among normal students compared to blind one. Where as traumatized teeth were higher among blind compared to normal students with a significant difference, a highly significant difference was seen on comparing between blind and normal students concerning plaque and gingival index, while a significant difference was seen for calculus index, one surface filling was needed by 25.9% of 58 control subjects, while only 5.2% of study group needed this type of treatment, less than 7% of the control group required pulp treatment, while 25.9% needed pulp care in the study group.The findings of this study demonstrate that blind subjects have a low prevalence of dental caries, poor oral hygiene, and extensive unmet need for dental treatment. This highly alarming situation requires immediate attention.Key words: Blind, Caries prevalence, Treatment need.

Oral health issues in children and adolescents with vision impairment: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Although the overall prevalence of dental caries was reported as higher for groups with VI, 24,26,27 some studies reported higher values in dental caries indices for children with no VI 11,23,25,28 . Regardless, no difference between groups was observed in the meta‐analyses for prevalence, DMFT, dmft, and dmfs, and only DMFS was significantly higher among individuals with VI.…”

“…The prevalence of dental caries varied from 40% 25 to 84% 24 (individuals with VI) and from 11.5% 26 to 83% 21 (sighted individuals). TDI ranged from 9% 5 to 32.5% 20 and from 3.4% 11 to 8.7% 6 in children and adolescents with and without VI, respectively. Bleeding on probing varied from 0.6% 18 to 62.6% 22 in those with VI and 2.7% 18 to 55% 22 in sighted individuals.…”

“…Participant age ranged from two to 21 years, 21 and the number of participants with VI ranged from 34 25 to 434 19 . Regarding the type of VI, three studies reported study subjects with blindness only, 11,24,25 two studies reported subjects with total and partial VI, 19,20 and 10 studies did not specify the degree of impairment 5,6,17,18,21–23,26–28 …”

“…Although valid indices to measure the outcomes were used, this study did not state whether the examiners had been calibrated. In eight studies, the criteria for inclusion in the sample were unclear and the study participants and settings were not described in detail 5,11,18,19,21,22,24,26 …”

“…Although many primary studies have investigated the association between VI and oral problems, 4,6,10,11 evidence of this relationship has not been reported in a systematic review and meta‐analysis yet. The findings of this study can contribute to an overview of how oral health issues affect this population and what are their most frequent dental needs, thereby guiding the planning of oral health services and improving dental care for people with VI.…”