Malocclusions and traumatic injuries in disabled schoolchildren and adolescents in Kuwait

Abstract

The present study was carried out to determine the prevalence of malocclusion and traumatic injuries in disabled children and adolescents attending the special-needs schools in Kuwait. Included in the study were 818 children (438 males and 380 females), in the age groups of 3-20 years, who have visual impairment, hearing impairment, physical handicaps, or developmental disorders. The mean age of participants was 11.9 years. The survey was carried out according to the methods of WHO. The prevalence of severe malocclusion was 23.6%, and that of slight malocclusion was 37.0%. Children with Down syndrome (OR = 2.3; 95% CI = 1.51-3.52), those of increasing age (OR = 1.1; 95% CI = 1.01-1.10), and males (OR = 1.5; 95% CI = 1.05-2.07) had higher risk for the occurrence of severe malocclusion. Less than one-fifth of the subjects (16.9%) had traumatized anterior teeth. Severe malocclusion (OR = 1.8; 95% CI = 1.17-2.77) and increasing age (OR = 1.2; 95% CI = 1.13-1.26) were significant risk factors for the occurrence of traumatic injuries. We concluded that malocclusion and traumatic injuries are more prevalent among these subjects with disabilities than among the healthy population in Kuwait.

Prevalence of Dental Malocclusion Among Children with Physical, Sensory and Neuropsychological Disabilities in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“…In contrast to Muppa et al, [49], who reported the severity of anterior crowding and spacing to be higher among children with sensory disabilities, the current study revealed a higher prevalence of these types of malocclusions in children with neuropsychological disabilities and physical disabilities, again this may be contributed by poor development of oral-facial musculature with tongue and lips parafunctions common in cerebral palsy [45,46] as well as small dental arch size especially among Down's syndrome subjects [15].…”

“…Down's syndrome has been reported to have high class III malocclusion [38,39], probably due to disharmony in cranial-base relationships [6,13,40], reduced dental arch size, decreased arch length, and inadequate maxillary size [15]. Meanwhile, cerebral palsy subjects who are often mentally retarded have high prevalence of class II [15,41] attributed to early eruption of primary teeth and abnormal tongue and head posture [15,[42][43][44].…”

“…Meanwhile, cerebral palsy subjects who are often mentally retarded have high prevalence of class II [15,41] attributed to early eruption of primary teeth and abnormal tongue and head posture [15,[42][43][44]. Furthermore, lip incompetence and failure of the maxillary orbicularis muscle is another cause of excessive overjet in cerebral palsy patients [45][46][47][48].…”

“…Age and social-cultural differences of the studied population as well as the variations in malocclusion classification and diagnostic criteria or indices used by researchers account for the big range of malocclusion reported worldwide [11,12]. In contrary, the type of disability is the main reason for disparities of reported malocclusion prevalence among handicapped people [8,[13][14][15].…”

Dental trauma in individuals with severe cerebral palsy: prevalence and associated factors

“…Previous studies have demonstrated a greater prevalence of tooth injuries among patients with cerebral palsy, mental handicaps and physical handicaps in comparison with healthy individuals, even when taking into account the fact that these individuals do not practice contact sports or radical physical activities. 8,11,[15][16][17] These findings serve as a warning to caregivers of individuals with mental disabilities and encourage a search for preventive measures, such as the use of mouth guards, the padding of objects and hard surfaces and the safe transport of these individuals in wheelchairs. 16 Regarding the risk factors associated to dental trauma, the most common are falls, collisions, automobile accidents, seizures, tooth grinding, dental caries, accentuated overjet and a lack of lip seal.…”