Oral health in children with intellectual disabilities in Banja Luka municipality

• Main Authors: Ilić Sanja, Knežević Ranka
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Medical Society of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka, University of Banja Luka. Faculty of Medicine 2015-01-01
• Series: Scripta Medica
• Subjects: children with mental disabilities; tooth decay; dmft
• Online Access: https://scindeks-clanci.ceon.rs/data/pdf/2490-3329/2015/2490-33291501012I.pdf

Introduction: Dental care for people with mental disabilities is an integral part of the comprehensive medical care. Mentally challenged people, in addition to mental have, in cases of severe psychophysical development disorders, motor disturbances as well, which prevent them from adequately maintaining oral hygiene and general health. In institutions where these people are located, there is often no dental service or dentist to take care of their oral health. Aims of the study: The basic goal of the research is to determine the oral health condition of the intellectually disabled children in the municipality of Banja Luka. Patients and Methods: The study was conducted on 65 children (26 females and 39 males), age range: 5 to 15 years old. According to a type of disability by 10th International classification of the diseases, children were divided into two groups: group 1/F71(n=35) and group 2/F72 (n=30). Dental check assessed: teeth number, presence of decayed, missing/extracted teeth and radices relictae, presence and number of crowns, gingival index-GI and plaque index-PI. Results: The analysis showed there was no significant difference in the number of decayed, extracted, filled teeth and there were no significant differences in the values of DMFT, gingival and plaque index. Conclusion: Children with mental disabilities in the municipality of Banja Luka have a bad state of the mouth and teeth. In relation to the degree of mental disability of children, there was no significant difference in the number of decayed, extracted, filled teeth, DMFT, gingival and plaque index.