Assessment of oral health status of children living in orphanages of Hassan City, India

Abstract

Introduction: The children residing in orphanages suffer from poor oral health. Early identification of oral diseases is at most necessary in these high-risk group children so that the prevention and controlling of the diseases can be done at the earliest. Aim: This study aims to assess the oral health status of children residing in orphanages of Hassan city, India. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, children without parents, aged 6–14 years were selected from government-run orphanages. Children willing to participate were included. Each child was examined by a single investigator. Each child was examined on an upright chair in an adequate natural light using. The data obtained were subjected to statistical analysis using Student's t-test and SPSS software 19.0. P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The mean oral hygiene score among males was 1.32 ± 0.69 and among females was 0.89 ± 0.80 ( P = 0.006). On comparison of mean gingival index score between males and females, it was not statistically significant ( P = 0.160). The prevalence of dental caries in primary and permanent dentition was 26.21% and 23.07%, respectively. The prevalence of fractured tooth was found to be 8.57%. Conclusions: The oral hygiene status and gingival health status of the orphan children were good. The prevalence of dental caries and dental trauma was low among them.

Keywords

• Dental caries
• gingival health
• oral hygiene
• orphans
• trauma