Health behavior and oral health status as indicators of child abuse and neglect in children and adolescents. preliminary report

Abstract

Introduction: Children coming from dysfunctional families, exposed to violence and negligence, when reporting to a dentist present several symptoms that can help in detection of child abuse. Objectives: To compare oral health and hygiene status among child victims of domestic abuse under the protection of a welfare center and children from normative families treated in the Department of Pediatric Dentistry at Warsaw Medical University. Material and methods: The study group consisted of children under the care of a social welfare institution across the Warsaw city. The control group was formed from patients of the Pediatric Dentistry Department of Warsaw Medical University. A clinical and questionnaire study were conducted. The presence of tooth injuries (Andreasen classification), caries and its consequences (DMFT/dmft, PUFA), oral hygiene status (OHI-S) and gingival condition were evaluated. The questionnaire study consisted of five questions concerning regular visits to the dentist's office, pain complaints, hygienic habits, prophylactic procedures, extraction and orthodontic treatment. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of the Medical University of Warsaw. Results: The study involved 88 children of both sexes (average age: 8.09 ± 12.43). In the study group the study revealed more frequent occurrence of caries in permanent dentition (PUW 5.98 ± 1.23 vs. 2.43 ± 0.78, p = 0.002), presence of serious consequences of untreated caries (PUFA, F 1.2 ± 0.68 vs. 0.29 ± 0.05, p = 0.031), more frequent incidence of tooth injuries (29% vs. 2%, p = 0.001) and higher rates of oral hygiene index (OHI-s 1.8 ± 0.83 vs. 1.14 ± 0.32, p = 0.003). Children from the study experienced pain complains more often (66.7% vs. 22.7%), had worse hygienic habits (teeth brushing once a week 20% vs. 4.5%) and had undergone tooth extractions due to caries more often (33.3% vs. 15.9%). Conclusion: Dental and hygiene negligence are part of battered child syndrome.