Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Aim: The study aims is to assess oral hygiene status and prevalence of dental caries among 3-14 years old specially abled children attending various special schools in Mathura district, India. Materials and Methods: An epidemiological survey was conducted to assess oral hygiene status and prevalence of dental caries among 3-14 years old specially abled children attending various special schools for specially abled in Mathura district, India. A total of 200 children which included 95 female and 105 male students were examined. According  to nature of handicap, they were divided into following groups: (1) Deaf and Dumb (2) Mentally retarded(MR) (3) Down’s syndrome group (4) Learning disability (LD) and (5) Complex group (children with more than one handicapping condition/disability).A survey profoma prepared with the help of WHO oral health assessment form (1997) was used, Oral hygiene status was assessed using OHI-Simplified given by (Greene and Vermilion 1964) and dental caries was recorded using DMFT/deft index. Results: Data obtained was subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 17. ANOVA and tukey test were employed for within and inter group comparisons respectively. Statistically highly significant differences were observed on inter group comparisons. Down’s syndrome group showed the highest mean DMFT/deft and OHI-S scores followed by the complex group and MR group, while the deaf and dumb group showed the lowest scores. Statistically non-significant difference was observed for all the groups when the respective groups were compared on the basis of gender. Conclusion: There is a need for renewed collaborative efforts by the various health disciplines and social service agencies to increase access to dental services for these children.