Assessment of Oral Health Status with Visually Impaired Children in Patna City, Bihar

Abstract

Aim: Children with a visually impairment often face various challenges in their day-to-day skills. Oral hygiene maintenance is one major task for them. Such child has difficulty to live current normal life and demands of permission or healthy life. The present study aims to assess the oral health in children with visually impaired using oral health status assessment tool in Patna city. Methodology: A cross-sectional institutional survey was implicated among visually impaired children who attend special school in Patna city. A total of 180 visually impaired children were selected as per the inclusion criteria. Participant's parents gave written consent for the study. The oral hygiene practices of visually impaired children were recorded by teachers. Oral health assessment tool (OHAT) findings were recorded by the principal investigator. Results: Sixty-seven percent of children had gingival inflammation and 59.8% had normal tongue. 55.2% of children had 1–3 decayed or broken teeth and 16.1% had unhealthy natural teeth. 78.7% of children had change in oral hygiene. Conclusion: Oral health status of visually impaired child was very poor and gingivitis was also seen according to usage of oral hygiene assessment tool(OHAT). The sentence should be chaged as Oral health status of visually impaired child was very poor and gingivitis was also seen according to usage of oral hygiene assessment tool (OHAT).

Are Teachers Working with Visually Impaired Children Prepared to Be Advocates of Oral Health? Pilot Study

“…The correlation between oral health and health-promoting habits regarding hygiene and diet is well documented in the literature [5][6][7][8]. Nowadays, in dentistry, the need for preventive (prophylactic) actions is clearly recognized [20]. Numerous studies indicate the poor oral health of children and adolescents in many countries around the world [3,6,9,15,18].…”

“…The unsatisfactory oral health level of the visually impaired children is shown in numerous research studies [6,9,20]. This could be the result of the lack of preventive state programs for children with visual impairment and parents' low dental awareness level.…”

“…The problem could also lie in insufficient care regarding oral hygiene previously in the kindergartens. They report not brushing teeth after each main meal, the sparsely or ineffectively executed fluoride programmes and educational actions, a lack of hygienic aids such as dental floss or mouth rinses among children, a lack of parent/caregiver assistance during daily toothbrushing, and the same is continued in schools now [20][21][22][23].…”

Does Audio Drama Improve Knowledge and Practice Regarding Personal Hygiene Among Visually Impaired Children

“…It may take more time for children to learn these skills, but it is critical to motivate independence and avoid the temptation to do the activity for them to achieve completeness. According to studies 1 , visually impaired youngsters are at higher risk for developing health problems due to inadequate personal cleanliness. It can be avoided by providing good health education that improves personal hygiene knowledge and practice.…”