Oral health status of intellectually disabled school children and adolescents, in a Chilean population, 2012

Aim: To determine the oral health status of intellectually disabled (ID) children and adolescents from state schools, Valdivia, Chile, 2012. Design: Descriptive study. A sample of students from state schools was assessed for caries history (Decayed, Missing, Filled permanent Teeth (DMFT)/decayed, extracted, filled temporal teeth (deft)), quality of oral hygiene (Simplified Oral Hygiene Index, OHI-S) and gingival health (Gingival Index, GI). In addition, questions were asked about dental care habits, degree of ID, presence of systemic disease and medicine use. Results: 195 students with slight to moderate ID and aged from 6 to 21 years were assessed. The average DMFT/deft was 2.19/1.33 for female students and 1.59/1.93 for male students. The OHI-S in 75.9% of participants was moderate, with poorer oral hygiene found in participants with moderate ID. Only 2.6% showed code 0 for GI, reflecting poor oral hygiene. Most participants possessed their own toothbrush (88.2%) and could clean their teeth unaided (96.4%).Conclusion: The state of oral health in the assessed population is deficient. The quality of oral hygiene is normal or poor, which leads to poor gingival health.