Original Article

Year : 2021 | Volume : 6 | Issue : 1 | Page : 11-6

Prevalence of Dental Caries and Oral Hygiene Status among Institutionalized Special Children and Normal Children in District Mandi of Himachal Pradesh: A Comparative Study

Jayshree Verma, Aakash Srivastava1, Kritika Gupta

Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Dentistry, Himachal Dental College Mandi, 1 Department of Dentistry, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Government Medical College and Hospital, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh, India

Address for correspondence:

Dr. Jayshree Verma,

Department of Dentistry, Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru Government Medical College and Hospital, Chamba, Himachal Pradesh ‐ 176 310, India.

E‐mail: drjayaverma@gmail.com

Abstract

Aim:

Assessment and comparison of oral hygiene status and caries experience between the institutionalized special children and a group of healthy children, along with, association of oral hygiene with various sociodemographic variables (age, sex, etc.) and clinical variables (brushing frequency, cleaning mode, material used, etc.).

Materials and Method:

A cross-sectional study was conducted in district Mandi of Himachal Pradesh on 384 children aged 6–17 years, of which 184 belonged to special health‐care needs and 200 healthy subjects were selected randomly from three other government schools. Oral hygiene status and caries were clinically examined using simplified oral hygiene index (OHI‐S) index, decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT), and decayed‐extracted‐filled teeth index, respectively.

Results:

Mean OHI(S) scores for mentally retarded, visually impaired, hearing impaired, and healthy children were 3.08 ± 1.35, 1.49 ± 1.44, 0.81 ± 0.95, and 1.14 ± 0.97, respectively, and the results were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Mean DMFT scores for mentally retarded, visually impaired, hearing impaired, and healthy children were 1.48 ± 1.96, 0.85 ± 1.06, 0.68 ± 1.23, and 1.64 ± 1.70, respectively, and were statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion:

Mean OHI(S) score was significantly more for mentally retarded children followed by visually impaired, healthy, and hearing impaired whereas mean DMFT score was significantly more for healthy children followed by mentally retarded, visually impaired and hearing‐impaired children.

Keywords: Decayed, missing, filled teeth, dental caries, index, oral hygiene

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

How to cite this article: Verma J, Srivastava A, Gupta K. Prevalence of dental caries and oral hygiene status among institutionalized special children and normal children in district Mandi of Himachal Pradesh: A comparative study. Int J Pedod Rehabil 2021;6:11-6.