History of dental caries and need for dental treatment of children with visual disabilities, Chile, 2014.

Abstract

Objective: To determine the history of dental caries and the need for dental treatment among visually disabled children between 6 and 12 years old attending special Schools in Chile during 2014. Material and method: Descrip- tive and observational cross-sectional study. The target population was children with visual disabilities from special schools in Chile. A clinical examination was performed to obtain a dmft/DMFT index and know the need for treatment. Two calibrated examiners performed the visual clinical examination, according to the WHO criteria. Additionally, clinically detectable enamel lesions on cavitated and non cavitated surfaces were recorded. The recorded data were analyzed using des - criptive statistics. Results: Ninety-four children attending to seven special schools were examined. The average dmft index was 2.05 (SD±2.6) and DMFT index was 0.96 (SD±1.3). For 6 year olds, the dmft/DMFT index was 3/0, respectively. For 12 year olds, the dmft index was 0.17 and the DMFT index was 1.42. Caries pre- valence was 56.3%. From the total, 95% of children needed sealants, 50% needed at least one restoration of one face, and 29% restoration of 2 or more surfaces. As for enamel lesions, 34% of children had at least one non cavitated lesion and 48% of them had a cavitated lesion. Conclusion: History of dental caries is similar to that reported in the general population; however, there is a high need for preventi- ve treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct more research to clarify whether these patients have a higher cariogenic risk due to their visual impairment in order