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Dental caries amongst mentally retarded people and those suffering from Down's syndrome

Abstract:

Objective: A descriptive investigation was conducted for determining the prevalence of dental caries amongst mentally retarded (MR) people and those suffering from Down's syndrome (DS). Methods: A special school located in Morán county in the State of Lara was visited. The inclusion criteria involved dental examination of 60 students and their parents/or the person responsible for them being interviewed. Results: Participants' mean age was 14,5 ± 8,17; 48,3 % were from a blue collar level. Regarding oral health, 53.0% had dental caries, 51,7 % being in the molars. Moderately MR people had the highest proportion of dental caries (75 %). About 53 % of the females and 46,2 % of males, 64,4 % and 31,9,% of RM and DS participants had caries. 28,3 % needed non-urgent dental treatment and 45 % were using public dental health services. Conclusions: People suffering from MR and DS have precarious oral health; it is thus recommended that health programmes be created which are specifically directed towards these people.