Dental status of children with special needs in Banjaluka

Introduction. Dental status in people with special needs is generally non satisfactory. Children with special needs have difficulties in maintaining oral hygiene, they require special conditions for dental care and because of previous negative experience they often show emotional vulnerability. Development of oral and dental diseases in these subjects is the consequence of insufficient knowledge about the causes of these diseases, poor eating habits, low level of oral hygiene and inadequate number of visits to dentist. The aim of this study was to determine dental status and the prevalence of dental caries in children with special needs in the institution “Za titi me” in Banjaluka. Material and Methods. The study included 82 children (53 boys and 29 girls) with mixed and permanent dentition age 5-15 years. They were divided into four groups according to their diagnosis. The first group included children with combined disorders of speech development and hearing, in the second group were children who had neurological disorders without mental retardation, third group included children with mild mental retardation and fourth group comprised children with moderate mental retardation. For each patient the number of teeth, the presence of caries and restorations, the number of extracted teeth, the presence of residual roots and the presence and number of fixed restorations were recorded. Results. Mean DMFT of all teeth was 9.77. Detailed analysis showed the greatest number of decayed teeth (83.83%), and filled teeth (9.52%) whereas the least number was for extracted teeth (6.65%). The highest percentage of children (79.27%) did not have any class I composite filling or one amalgam filling class I (82.92%). Only one child had a fixed restoration. Conclusion. The status of teeth in children with special needs in the institution “Za titi me” in Banjaluka indicated high percentage of carious teeth, small percentage of restorations and extracted teeth, and inadequate oral hygiene.