Relationship between periodontal status and degree of visual impairment in institutionalized individuals

Survey on Oral Health Education Knowledge of Family Members and Health Workers Dedicated to Patients with Disabilities

OBJECTIVE

 Over a billion people in the world live with some form of disability and this figure is destined to grow due to the increase in life expectancy. As consequence, the caregiver is taking on an increasingly important role that gains relevance also in the field of oral-dental prevention, being able to promptly identify needs for medical treatment. In some cases, however, the caregiver can be an obstacle to consider in case of a lack of adequate knowledge and commitment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the caregiver level of oral education comparing family members and health workers dedicated to people with disabilities knowledge.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

 Anonymous questionnaires were distributed in five disability service centers and filled alternatively by family members of patients with disability and disability service centers health workers.

RESULTS

 Two-hundred fifty questionnaires were collected, of which 100 were filled in by family members and 150 by health workers. Data were analyzed by applying the chi-squared (X2) independence test and the pairwise method for missing data.

CONCLUSION

 Family members oral education appears better in terms of brushing frequency, toothbrush replacement, and number of dental visits.

Oral health status and dental care for individuals with visual impairment. A narrative review

Visual impairment is a highly prevalent condition worldwide. Oral health care in this group of patients is not always adequate. This is due to the low awareness of the importance of oral health in this population group and the fact that these patients prioritize their general health over oral health. Therefore, caries and periodontal disease are frequent in this population group. Especially, periodontal status is worse in patients with acquired visual impairment compared to patients with congenital visual impairment. On the other hand, the proportion of treated caries in this group is very low. This may be due to the poorer access of this population to dental care, which is limited by physical, social, and information barriers. Dental phobia and the lack of dental professionals capable of treating this population group have been identified as one of the most important factors. Therefore, establishing oral hygiene routines that are adapted to individuals' skills and needs is essential to achieve good oral health and improve patient's quality of life. This narrative review also updates those dental treatment considerations, depending on each dental specialty, that can help improve patient satisfaction when they come to the dental office.

Oral Health Knowledge, Behaviour, and Access to Dental Care in Visually Impaired Individuals in Jordan: A Case-Control Study

Aim:

The study aimed to assess oral health knowledge, dental behaviors, and use of dental services in individuals with vision impairment in Jordan and identify barriers that affect their access to dental care in comparison with individuals without vision impairment.

Materials and Methods:

A case-control study was carried out among 399 parents/caregivers of individuals with vision impairment and individuals without vision impairment, which involved the completion of a self-designed questionnaire. A closed-ended, validated self-designed questionnaire was distributed. The questionnaire included questions addressing participants’ oral health knowledge, oral health behaviour, dental service use and barriers to accessing dental care. Data were analyzed using SPSS® software Version 22 with a 0.05 level of significance. A Chi-square test and contingency-table analysis were performed on the data.

Results:

Individuals with vision impairment in Jordan were significantly less knowledgeable about different oral health aspects than sighted counterparts. In addition, individuals with vision impairment used toothbrush, dental floss, and mouth rinse less frequently. They also visited dentists less regularly and mostly when only feeling pain. Limited access to dental services was observed among individuals with vision impairment compared to sighted individuals. Barriers, including embarrassment (22%), lack of knowledge of how to treat people with disabilities among dentists (12.5%), and inadequate facilities (13.7%), were significantly (P<0.05) more likely to be reported by visually impaired participants than the controls.

Conclusion:

Visually impaired individuals and their families should be given appropriate education about oral health care by oral health professionals to reduce the risk of having dental problems and oral disease and enhance their quality of life. Furthermore, recognizing the challenges in accessing dental care for this population could help oral health professionals to minimize these difficulties.

Oral hygiene negligence among institutionalized mentally disabled children in Mysore city-A call for attention

BACKGROUND

Oral health is integral part of general health. In certain conditions especially among mentally disabled, oral health is neglected. Studies have shown that mentally disabled population has the risk of poor oral health. People with disabilities deserve the same opportunities for oral health and hygiene as those who are healthy, but sadly dental care is the most common unmet health care need of the disabled people.

METHODOLOGY

This comparative, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among institutionalized mentally disabled and normal children of age group 6-13 years in Mysore city.

RESULTS

Majority of mentally disabled children, that is, 36.73% (n = 180), had poor oral hygiene when compared with normal children, that is, 9.18% (n = 45). This difference was statistically highly significant (P < 0.000). The significant differences in the gingival status and severity of mental disability were seen (P < 0.001). The result showed that the gingival health worsens with increase in the severity of mental disability.

CONCLUSION

The present study showed the dental negligence among mentally disabled children where the parents, caretakers, and dentists are responsible. Oral health promotion programs should be conducted for special group children, their parents, as well as caretakers.

Salivary levels of inflammatory cytokines and their association to periodontal disease in systemic lupus erythematosus patients. A case-control study

Both Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and periodontal disease (PD) present a similar immunological profile mainly characterized by altered cytokine levels. In this study we sought to investigate the salivary levels of inflammatory cytokines and their association with PD in SLE patients. 60 patients with SLE and 54 systemically healthy individuals underwent a full periodontal clinical examination. They were then grouped according to their periodontal status. Stimulated saliva was collected in order to evaluate the salivary levels of interferon (IFN-γ), Interleukin (IL)-10, IL-17, IL-1β, and IL-4. Systemically healthy individuals with periodontitis (group P) presented higher levels of cytokines when compared to systemically healthy individuals, with no periodontal disease (group S) (p<0.05). Additionally, in the P group, patients presented similar levels of cytokines to those of the patients with SLE, regardless of the presence of PD (p>0.05), for most of the analyzed cytokines. There was a positive correlation in SLE patients, including IL-1β and all periodontal clinical parameters (p<0.05), and between IL-4 and gingival bleeding index and the presence of biofilm (p<0.05). Thus, our results confirmed, that patients with PD showed higher salivary levels of cytokines and, in SLE patients, the increased levels of salivary cytokines were observed even in the absence of periodontitis. IL-1β and IL-4 salivary levels were also positively correlated with periodontal status indicating their potential as markers of the amount and extent of periodontal damage in patients with SLE.