Dental Status and Treatment Needs of Special Needs Children in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

S. Mohd Mokhtar, L. Abd Jalil, N. Muhd Noor, B. C. Tan, Z. Shamdol, H. Ali Hanafiah

The aim of the study is to determine the dental status and treatment needs of special needs children in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia and to investigate the association of caries prevalence and oral health status with sociodemographic variables. Methodology: This is a cross sectional study involving 574 special needs children aged 17 and below who attended Community-based Rehabilitation centres and special classes in the government schools. They were examined for dental caries (dmft/DMFT index of World Health Organization) and oral hygiene (Simplified Oral Hygiene Index, OHI-S of Green Vermillion). Statistical analyses include frequency, percentages, mean and standard deviation for descriptive statistics, whilst one-way ANOVA, simple and multiple logistic regressions were used for association analysis. Result: Majority of the children was mentally handicapped. Over 90% were from parents of middle and lower level educational background. The caries prevalence was 54.9% with mean dmft/DMFT of 1.03±2.13/1.22±2.23. There was no significant association between caries prevalence with parents’ education and monthly household income. The only sociodemographic factor that showed significant association with caries prevalence (p<0.001) was age. The mean of OHI-S was 1.13±1.03. The oral hygiene status was inversely associated with age, parents education and monthly household income. 52.8% of the children required dental treatment. In the very young, aged 2 to 6 years, 85.2% of decayed teeth (d+D) were untreated and required some form of treatment (restoration or/and extraction). Conclusion: High caries prevalence and dental treatment needs were found among the special needs children in Negeri Sembilan. This study highlights the necessity to prioritize the service delivery to the younger age group. The findings will be useful as baseline data to enable future planning of oral health care delivery for children with disabilities.