Evaluation of the synergistic effect of physiotherapy and preventive dental treatment on drooling in children with special healthcare needs

Abstract

Drooling is the involuntary, passive spillage of saliva due to inability to handle oral secretions, normally occurring in infants and young children. It is considered abnormal to have problems with saliva control beyond the age of 4 years. Physiotherapy treatment including oral motor stimulation has been regularly used to decrease drooling but its effect along with dental treatment is unknown. Therefore, the study was conducted with the combined effect of physiotherapy and dental treatment on drooling in children with developmental disorders. A study with pre-post intervention experimental design was conducted to study the combined effect of physiotherapy and dental treatment. Ten children with developmental disorders in the age group of 4-12 years with a complaint of drooling were recruited from the pediatric out-patients department and child developmental centre of a tertiary care hospital and a special school in Belagavi, India. Pre interventions outcomes for drooling severity through 5-minute drooling quotient scale, impact of drooling through drooling impact scale and oral hygiene status through OHIS index were noted. Children were subjected to dental intervention consisting of oral prophylaxis and fluoride application followed by physiotherapy intervention consisting of oral motor stimulation thrice a week for 4 weeks. Data was analyzed using descriptive analysis. The results indicated a significant improvement in drooling with a mean difference of 11.20±4.87 and p=0.001 on the drooling impact scale and mean difference of 23.66±6.07 and p=0.001 on the 5- minute drooling scale. It also indicated a significant improvement in plaque scores with the mean difference of 0.25±0.16 and p=0.001 (p<0.05). This study showed that combination of physiotherapy and dental treatment is useful for the treatment of drooling in children with developmental disorders and shown that interdisciplinary approach is more effective in management of these children.