Prevalence of Dental Caries and Oral Hygiene Status Among Blind School Children and Normal Children, Jodhpur City: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Introduction: The objectives of the study were to assess the prevalence of dental caries and oral hygiene among visually impaired children and to compare these parameters with that of a group of children without visual disability. Material and Methods: A total of 704, 6-15 year school going children were selected out of them 354 children were blind and 350 children were normal. The data was recorded following the WHO basic oral health survey 1997 criteria. The data was analyzed by using simple statistics including mean and percentages. Results: The study showed that the prevalence of dental caries was 60% and 31.5% in visually impaired and normal children respectively. The oral hygiene status showed that the mean Value in Good Category was found to be 0.19 and 0.67, in fair category was 0.22 and 0.1 and in poor category was 0.40 and 0.23 in visually impaired children and normal children respectively. Conclusion: If dental health awareness can be instituted to the parents, including brushing techniques and diet counseling at a very early age, the incidence of dental caries can be kept to minimum, and can reduce the probability of complicated dental treatment needs. The oral hygiene habits of individuals with disabilities can be improved by close monitoring and periodic dental check-ups.