Oral health of visually impaired schoolchildren in Khartoum State, Sudan

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough oral health care is a vital component of overall health, it remains one of the greatest unattended needs among the disabled. The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and oral health-related quality of life (Child-OIDP in 11-13-year-old) of the visually challenged school attendants in Khartoum State, the Sudan.MethodsA school-based survey was conducted in Al-Nour institute [boys (66.3%), boarders (35.9%), and children with partial visual impairment (PVI) (44.6%)]. Two calibrated dentists examined the participants (n=79) using DMFT/dmft, Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI-S), dental care index, and traumatic dental injuries (TDI) index. Oral health related quality of life (C-OIDP) was administered to 82 schoolchildren.ResultsCaries experience was 46.8%. Mean DMFT (age≥12, n=33) was 0.4 ± 0.7 (SiC 1.6), mean dmft (age<12, n=46) was 1.9 ±2.8 (SiC 3.4), mean OHIS 1.3 ± 0.9. Care Index was zero. One fifth of the children suffered TDI (19%). Almost one third (29%) of the 11–13 year old children reported an oral impact on their daily performances. A quarter of the schoolchildren (25.3%) required an urgent treatment need. Analysis showed that children with partial visual impairment (PVI) were 6.3 times (adjusted) more likely to be diagnosed with caries compared to children with complete visual impairment (CVI), and children with caries experience were 1.3 times (unadjusted) more likely to report an oral health related impact on quality of life.ConclusionsVisually impaired schoolchildren are burdened with oral health problems, especially caries. Furthermore, the 11-13 year olds' burden with caries showed a significant impact on their quality of life.

The effectiveness of dental health education tools for visually impaired students in Bukit Mertajam

“…In this study it was shown that visually impaired children exhibit fair to poor level of oral hygiene, which is similar to many other studies done before [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. In contrast to a study done in Chandigarh, India in 2013, 95% of the visually impaired children had good and fair oral hygiene with mean plaque score of 1.34 [17].…”

“…However, they had a higher prevalence of bleeding sites compared to the sighted students, which perhaps could be explained by the limited ability of the visually impaired student to visualize the existence of plaque [18]. All of the children in this study stayed in boarding school and their suboptimal level of oral hygiene could be due to lack of assistance or supervision by the care taker [16].…”

History of dental caries and need for dental treatment of children with visual disabilities, Chile, 2014.

“…This is especially true for older people, since up to 80% of them do not know that it is advisable to have regular dental examinations 17 . Tagelsir, et al 15 mentioned that the need for treatment Some of the reasons are inadequate recovery systems, practical difficulties during session, underestimation of treatment needs, communication problems and problems of cooperation from the patient 11 . Despite the fact that the disabled, particularly the blind population, has the right to the same standards of health and care as the general population, it is evident that they experience worse general and oral health 11 .…”

“…This is opposed to a 40% of caries prevalence described in a population of children between 6 and 15 years old from India 5 . Regarding the experience of caries described in a population of children between 11 and 13 years old in Sudan, it was observed that it was up to 46.8% 15 . In Chile, this value was 76.5%.…”

Prevalence of Night Blindness among Children in Elhag Yousif Area, Khartoum, Sudan

“…Vitamin A is an essential nutrient needed in small amounts for the normal functioning of the visual system [3]. Childhood blindness in developing countries is a result of many factors such as measles; one of these factors is vitamin A deficiency [4]. Approximately 250,000-500,000 children in the developing countries become blind each year due to vitamin A deficiency, with highest prevalence in Africa and South East Asia [1].…”