Citation Information :
Shah RK, Choudhary S, Tandon S. Oral Health Status in Mentally Disabled Children, Dental Care Knowledge of Parents, and the Impact of Audiovisual Oral Health Education Program. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2022; 15 (2):143-148.
Aims and objectives: The aims and objectives of this study were to evaluate the oral health status in a group of mentally disabled children, to identify the oral health knowledge of parents and to assess the impact of audiovisual oral health education program.
Materials and methods: The study sample comprised of 120 mentally disabled subjects aged 5–16 years and 40 parents attending a vocational institute in Jaipur, India. Caries status and oral hygiene status were assessed by DMFT Index and Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S) of Greene and Vermillion, respectively. Twenty pre- and post-structured close-ended questions were designed and a 5-minute video on oral health education was prepared. Data was analyzed by using one way ANOVA test followed by Post hoc Tukeys HSD Test, Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, and Chi-square test. Effectiveness index was calculated to find the impact of AV Teaching Program.
Results: Oral hygiene status deteriorates as the severity of mental retardation increases but it was not found significantly associated with oral hygiene status. An effectiveness index of at least 0.5 indicates that the instructional media was satisfactorily effective.
Conclusion: Maximum children with poor oral hygiene were in the category of severe mental retardation and mean OHI-S score decreases from severe-to-mild mental retardation. The newly designed audiovisual aid on complete oral health care was effective at some levels in improving the oral health knowledge of the parents/caregivers of mentally retarded children.
Hennequin M, Faulks D, Roux O, et al. Accuracy of estimation of dental treatment need in special care patients. J Dent 2000;28(2):131–136. DOI: 10.1016/s0300-5712(99)00052-4
Ainamo J, Barmes D, Beargrie G, et al. Development of the World Health Organization (WHO) community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN). Int Dent J 1982;32(3):281–291.
Nunn JH. The dental health of mentally and physically handicapped children: a review of the literature. Comm Dent Health 1987;4(2):157–168.
Bonito AJ. Executive summary: dental care considerations for vulnerable populations. Spec Care Dentist 2002;22(3 Suppl):5s–10s
Oredugba FA, Akindayomi Y. Oral health status and treatment needs of children and young adults attending a day centre for individuals with special health care needs. BMC Oral Health 2008;8:30. DOI: 10.1186/1472-6831-8-30
Siripanichkorn A, Asvanit P. Evaluation of oral health audio-visual aids for a group of Thai late primary school students. IJOR 2011:2;e2
Shoba Tandon. Dental care for the special child. Textbook of Pedodontics 1st edition, 535–601.
Goodman RI, Fletcher KA, Schneider EW. The effectiveness index as a comparative measure in media product evaluation. Educational Technology 1980;20(9):30–34.
Grants AD, Stern IB. Periodontics in the tradition of Gottlieb and orban. 6th ed. CV. Mosby Company, 1988: 236–248.
Kumar S, Sharma J, Duraiswamy P, et al. Determinants for oral hygiene and periodontal status among mentally disabled children and adolescents. J Indian Soc Pedo Prev Dent 2009;27(3):151–157. DOI: 10.4103/0970-4388.57095
Denloye OO. Oral hygiene status of mentally handicapped school children in Ibadan, Nigeria. Odontostomatol Trop 1998;21(84):19–21.
Abiola AA, Eyitope OO, Sonny OJ, et al. Dental caries occurrence and associated oral hygiene practices among rural and urban Nigerian pre-school children. J Dent Oral Hyg 2009;1(5):64–70.
Hashim NT, Gobara B, Ghandour I. Periodontal health status of a group of (non-institutionalized) mentally disabled children in Khartoum state. J Oral Dent Health 2012;6(1):10–13. DOI: 10.5005/johcd-6-1-10
Nicolaci AB, Tesini DA. Improvement in the oral hygiene of institutionalized mentally retarded individuals through training of direct care staff: a longitudinal study. Spec Care Dent 1982;2(5):217–221. DOI: 10.1111/j.1754-4505.1982.tb00059.x
Rao D, Hegde A, Munshi AK. Oral hygiene status of disabled children and adolescents attending special schools of South Canara, India. Hong Kong Dent J 2005;2:107–113.
Ajami BA, Shabzendedar M, Rezay YA, et al. Dental treatment needs of children with disabilities. J Dent Res Dent Clin Dent Prospects 2007;1(2):93–98. DOI: 10.5681/joddd.2007.016
Shaw L, Maclaurin ET, Foster TD. Dental study of handicapped children attending special schools in Birmingham, UK. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 1986;14(1):24–27. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0528.1986.tb01488.x
Jokić NI, Majstorović M, Bakarcić D, et al. Dental caries in disabled children. Coll Antropol 2007;31(1):321–324.
Wyne AH. Attitude of parents of disabled children towards dental visits in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Odontostomatol Trop 2007;30(118): 17–23.
Sutthavong S, Taebanpakul S, Kuruchitkosol C, et al. Oral health status, dental caries risk factors of the children of public kindergarten and schools in Phranakornsriayudhya, Thailand. J Med Assoc Thai 2010;93(Suppl 6):S71–S78.
Alsada LH, Sigal MJ, Limeback H, et al. Development and testing of an audio-visual aid for improving infant oral health through primary caregiver education. J Can Dent Assoc 2005;71(4):241a–241h.
Horowitz AM, Kleinman DV. Oral health literacy: the new imperative to better oral health. Dent Clin North Am 2008;52(2):333–344. DOI: 10.1016/j.cden.2007.12.001
