The oral health status of the disabled has generally been poorer than the general population as the treatment and care afforded to them has been minimal. This paper examines the relationship of the various types of disabilities to dental health status. The dental status of a random sample of 322 disabled children aged between 6 and 18 years was assessed. The children had various disabilities: intellectual, hearing, visual, and musculo-skeletal. Most differences in the prevalence and severity of the dental conditions assessed among the children in the various disability groups were not significant. However, in comparison with normal schoolchildren aged 6 to 18, the disabled children had higher levels of disease and received less dental attention.
Dental fear is a significant problem in the delivery of dental care. This study examined the phases of dental fear in 488 military conscripts scheduled to receive four categories of dental treatment for the first time. Results showed that the level of fear increased gradually from the day before treatment and peaked while receiving it. A significant reduction occurred after completing the treatment. Among the different types of procedures, tooth extraction elicited the highest degree of fear, while having the teeth cleaned registered the lowest. Military servicemen showed a pattern of dental fear similar to those other population groups.
This study examined the prosthetic status and needs among an elderly population living in long-term care facilities in Singapore. A total of 488 subjects were randomly selected and 479 of them were examined. The results show that 56.2 percent of selected subjects were edentulous while 43.8 percent had one or more teeth missing. The average number of teeth present among dentate subjects was 7.5. Of the edentulous subjects, 78 percent of them reported not having any dentures, and more than 20 percent of existing dentures were found to be defective and had to be replaced. A higher proportion (94 percent) of dentate subjects who could have benefitted from having partial dentures did not have them. The findings of this study clearly demonstrate high unmet needs for prosthetic care among an institutionalized elderly population.
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