Assessment of oral health knowledge, status and awareness among visually impaired children in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Oral health and status have been associated with different parts of our daily life, including psychological, biological and social experiences as it is simply affected and influenced by aesthetics and communication. Having a good oral health is much significant in having a better appearance, mastication speech, health and digestion. Oral health could be related to a good general health in addition to being happy, as there are studies shown that esthetically unsatisfactory and functionally deficient dentitions might affect self-esteem, socialization and confidence.1 According to the World Health Organization,2 19 million children aged below 15 years are visually impaired. However, the prevalence of visual impairment worldwide has been decreasing since the early 1990s. That decrease was associated with different factors including