Effectiveness of an Oral Health Intervention Program for Group of Egyptian Children with Congenital Heart Defects

Abstract

Purpose: This study evaluated an oral health program on group of Egyptian children with congenital heart defects and healthy children. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on a sample group of 110 Egyptian children with age (3 to 6) years old with congenital heart defect and healthy children. In each groups number of girls nearly equal number of boys. The oral health status was evaluated regarding to Intra oral examination of oral tissue and teeth, (dmf) index used to assess dental caries in primary teeth in primary dentition stage, gingival index, and oral Hygiene index (OHI-S) was also measured. Results: Regarding gender, there was no statistically significant difference. There was no statistically significant difference between median dmf scores in the two groups (P-value = 0.760, Effect size = 0056). normal group showed statistically significantly lower median GI scores than CHD group (P-value <0.001, Effect size = 1.985), (P-value <0.001, Effect size = 1.59), (P-value <0.001, Effect size = 0.736) and (P-value = 0.004, Effect size = 0.432), respectively. Conclusions: Oral health program on Egyptian children with congenital heart improves teeth caries and significantly improves gingival index and oral Hygiene index (OHI-S).