Oral health knowledge, practice, oral hygiene status and dental caries prevalence among visually impaired students in residential institute of Aligarh

Mohammad Sami Ahmad*, M. K. Jindal, Saif Khan and S. H. Hashmi

Department of Periodontia and Community Dentistry, Dr Z A Dental College and Hospital, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, UP, India.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: msamiahmad@hotmail.com. Tel:  09897522806, 09760032806.

Accepted 2 June, 2009

   Abstract

The study was conducted to detect the preventive and treatment modalities among visually impaired students living in a residential school of Aligarh. A total of 80 visually impaired students were involved in the study in which 55 subjects were males and 25 females. They belonged to the age group of 10 – 35 years. Maximum number of males and females belonged to 16 – 25 years of age. Most of the subjects were cleaning mouth only in the morning with the use of brush and tooth paste. Eighty six percent were having belief that use of sugar leads to dental caries. On oral examination out of total subjects 55.2% were having poor oral hygiene and only 16% were having good oral hygiene. About 28% suffered from dental caries that were having poor oral hygiene and about 57% who were having fair oral hygiene. No one suffered from dental caries that were having good oral hygiene.  In disabled individuals the process of developing oral disease does not differ from non-disabled individuals. There is no difference in prevention of the disease and treatment modalities between these groups. Since blind students can not visualize the dental plaque, motivation to keep the mouth clean is less as compared to normal individuals. Hence they need a special way to educate and motivate to keep the oral hygiene better in order to prevent dental caries.

Key words: Visually impaired, disabled, dental caries, oral hygiene, toothpaste.