Oral health status of a sample of disabled population in Iran

BACKGROUND: A wide range of oral health conditions has been studies in disabled populations. Many studies showed that the oral health of individuals who were disabled was poor and their oral treatment needs were greater than those of the general population. This study aimed to determine caries experience, levels of oral hygiene,periodontal health and prevalence of malocclusion in a sample of disabled subjects.METHODS: Five special care needs schools were randomly selected from the list of schools in Kerman and all attendants were examined for dental status on the basis of WHO criteria, gingival health and oral hygiene behaviors. Data were analyzed by ANOVA and chi-square tests.RESULTS: There were 297 participants in the study. The most frequent group of disability was mental retard. The mean decayed, missing and filled teeth (DMFT) score was 5.14. Ninety percent of subjects had gingival inflammation. There was no significant (P = 0.34) difference between caries experiences of different disable groups.CONCLUSIONS: Oral hygiene of disabled groups was poor and their caries experience rate was very high. Special oral health care program for them is recommended.