Gurudath G. , Vijay Kumar K.V.

ABSTRACT

Background; The disabled form a substantial section of the community. About one in 600 neonates has a congenital hearing loss. Primary target of a nation should be to improve the health and financial functioning of the deprived people. Aims and objectives: To assess the dentition status and treatment needs and provide base line data among the hearing impaired students of Mysore city. Materials and methods: A cross sectional study involving all the hearing impaired 822, 4-22years old students data, using modified WHO oral health survey proforma 1997, by type III examination procedure, with specially designed proforma including socioeconomic status, oral hygiene practices, diet, consumption of snacks were added. Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 10.0 (Statistical Package Software). Statistical significance was determined by Chi-square test. Results: Out of 822 students, 490(59.6%) were males and 322(40.4%) were females. Mean dmft was 2.15 and no missing and filled teeth were found. The mean DMFT was 2.62, indicating dental caries increases with age. 554(67.3%) students were caries free and 268(32.7%) needed treatment, with need of one surface filling the most & sealants. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that hearing impaired students in these institutions have high prevalence of unmet dental care. This highly alarming situation requires immediate attention through proper education, motivation and health services.