Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: December | Volume: 9 | Issue: 12 | Pages: 286-292
Caries Experience among Visually Impaired and Normal Female Students Aged 6-18 Years in Makkah, Saudi Arabia: A Comparative Study
Banan Turkistani1, Sahar M Elmarsafy2
1Dental Intern Student, Faculty of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
2Associate Professor of Operative Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Umm Al-Qura University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Assistant Professor of Operative Dentistry, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Egypt.
Corresponding Author: Sahar M Elmarsafy
ABSTRACT
Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess and compare the caries experience among visually impaired and normal female students aged 6-18 years in Makkah City.
Methods: A comparative study was carried out among institutionalized visually impaired and normal female students aged 6-18 years in Makkah. Data was collected through clinical examinations, self-administered questionnaire for demographic information, and school records. The collected data was then tabulated and statistically analyzed.
Results: A total of 66 students were examined, (33 visually impaired and 33 normal). The mean dft (decayed and filled primary teeth) scores for the 6-12 years old students in the blind and normal groups were 2.65 and 2.25 respectively. While the mean DMFT (decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth) scores for the 6-12 years old students in the visually impaired and normal groups were 1.6 and 1.4 respectively. The mean DMFT scores for the 13-18 years old students in the visually impaired and normal groups were 4.30 and 3.38 respectively.
Conclusions: Although the visually impaired groups recorded higher dft and DMFT scores than the normal groups but the differences were not significant which might be related to the poor dental care of the school children population whether normal or visually impaired. Further studies on a larger population are needed for better understanding the caries prevalence among normal and visually impaired individuals.
Key words: Visually Impaired, Normal, School students, Saudi Arabia, Dental caries experience.