Accessibility, Realization And Effectiveness Of Dental Care Of Deaf And Hard-Of-Hearing Children In West-Pomeranian Region

Background. There are about 9000 deaf and hard of hearing pupils in Polish primary and secondary schools (also special schools for children with this disability). However, the precise number of children and adolescents with hearing disorder is not known. There are no school's dental office in any of the three Special Education Care Centers in West-Pomeranian Region.Objectives. Evaluation of the accessibility, realization and effectiveness of dental care of deaf and hard-of-hearing children in West-Pomeranian Region.Material and Methods. There were examined 109 deaf and hard-of-hearing children aged 7-15 years (circa 28% of hearing impaired pupils from West-Pomeranian Region). The control group consisted of 109 generally healthy peers. The assessed indices for permanent teeth were: caries frequency, mean DMFT and its components, mean dental treatment index (DTI) and mean number of sealed first permanent molars. Parental questionnaire concerned on problems of realization and effectiveness of dental care of their offspring. Children were questioned about their experience from dental treatment.Results. Mean DMFT values increased with age and were similar in the hearing impaired and control group (2.59 and 2.32). Mean DTI value (0.33) and mean number of first permanent molars with fissure sealant (0.44) were significantly lower in children with hearing impairment. Nearly 2/3 of questioned parents from both groups did not experience any problems with accessibility of the dental care for their children and were satisfied of its realization. Significantly more often hearing impaired children were under dental care provided by National Health Service (63%). These children confused that episode of toothache was the most frequent reason of their dental treatment (49%) and two times more often they were afraid of the dental visit (27%) comparing to the control group. Only in the hearing impaired group there were children who had never had dental treatment before (4%).Conclusions. Children with hearing impairment need special preventive and therapeutic dental program. It seems mandatory to intensify attempts related to dental health care promotion among these children and their caregivers.