Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of dental caries and oral hygiene status of children with Down syndrome, Karachi, Pakistan.
Methodology: It was a cross-sectional study conducted at Special needs children School Karachi, Pakistan & the duration of study was 6 months. Total 119 children with Down syndrome of age 5–20 years of either gender were enrolled. After taking informed consent the subjects were examined for dental caries and dental status. Dental caries was assessed by using DMFT index and Oral hygiene status was assessed by using oral hygiene index‑simplified (OHI-S). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.
Results: The overall caries prevalence in the study population was 68.1% with an overall mean DMFT score of 1.10±1.31. Out of 119 children with Down syndrome, majority had good hygiene status (51.2%), 27.7% had fair hygiene status and 21 had poor hygiene status with overall mean OHI-S score of 1.79±1.43.

Conclusion: A high prevalence of dental caries was observed among children with Down Syndrome. There is a high need for an epidemiological survey followed by the comprehensive dental care programs for these children, as well as efforts should be taken to encourage and promote parents of these children to improve their oral health.

Key words: Dental caries, DMFT, Oral health, Oral hygiene status, Down Syndrome