Dental caries and treatment needs of Yemeni children with down syndrome

BACKGROUND: Oral health in Down syndrome (DS) children has some peculiar aspects that must be considered in the follow-up of these patients. The objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of dental caries and treatment needs among children with DS in Yemen and also to investigate the association between these outcomes with various socio-demographic and clinical variables. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved 96 children with DS aged between 6 and 15 years. Data were gathered through the use of a questionnaire and clinical observation. The dentition status and the treatment needs were recorded according to World Health Organization recommendations. ANOVA, Chi-square test, t-test and multiple regression analyses were applied using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) version 20.0 software, with P < 0.05 considered as significant. RESULTS: The results showed that 93.8% of the subjects had dental caries; overall, decayed missing filled surfaces (dmfs), decayed missing filled teeth (dmft), DMFS, DMFT were 10.35, 4.44, 4.32 and 2.45, respectively. Stepwise linear regression analysis has revealed that age was the most important predictor for DMFT and DMFS, while early age and less frequent teeth brushing were the most predictors for dmft and dmfs. Restorative care and extractions were the most needed specific treatments. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study demonstrate that children with DS in Yemen have a high prevalence of dental caries and extensive unmet needs of dental treatment. They would benefit from frequent oral health assessment.