ORAL HEALTH STATUS OF VISUALLY IMPAIRED CHILDREN IN BENGHAZI, LIBYA

Abstract

Introduction: Visual impairment is a serious global problem with approximately 14 million children are blind and 1.5 million children consider to be visually impaired. Keeping a good oral health has been a challenge in this population. Maintaining good oral hygiene is one of many daily living tasks that visually impaired children struggle to learn. Therefore, it is important for visual impaired children to practice an oral hygiene in order to minimise the risk of oral health problems. AIM: This study aimed to evaluate the oral health status of school aged visually impaired children in comparison to sighted children in Benghazi, Libya and to compare the oral health knowledge of their parents/caregiver before and after oral hygiene instructions. Methods: Cross sectional study that included 44 visually impaired and 102 sighted students aged 6-15 years old. The study was conducted in two separate periods of time (phase1 and 2). In both phases, a survey was completed by the parents/ guardians, oral health examination, Assessment of dental caries, gingival health, dental plaque and dental calculus to evaluate the oral hygiene for each subject Results: Showed that the visually impaired children had relatively higher average dental caries experience than their healthy control group, though it was not statistically significant (P>0.05). Likewise, the score for gingival index and debris index were higher among visually impaired children but not the scores of calculus index which was relatively higher among healthy children. In Comparison of average gingival index score before and after received the oral hygiene instructions. It is clear that there is a marginal decrease in the average score following the provision of oral hygiene instructions. All differences were not statistically significant. Conclusion: Visually impaired children have poor plaque control, gingivitis, and dental caries, as well as difficulty obtaining health care professionals. In order to reduce plaque and avoid caries, they require substantial oral health education programs. Physical, social, or informational barriers associated to the visual impairment or accompanying medical problems, as well as, a lack of information in an appropriate format may affect oral health. Key words: Visual impairment, Blindness, Oral health, Oral hygiene, Caries experience, Dental plaque, Gingivitis.