Dental caries and related risk factors in Saudi cerebral palsy children

OBJECTIVE: To determine caries experience and related risk factors in cerebral palsy (CP) children. METHODS: Random sample of CP children was examined for dental caries and oral hygiene. Questionnaire was utilized for information about caries risk factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Riyadh from December 2014 to May 2015. RESULTS: Fifty-two CP children were examined with mean age of 6.3±2.7 years. Only one (1.9%) child out of the 52 had no clinical caries. Combined (dmft plus DMFT) mean caries score among study sample was 9.98±3.99. Older children had significantly higher mean caries scores (11.5±3.34) than younger children (8.86±4.1, p=0.017). The CP children with good oral hygiene had lowest mean caries score (5.8±7.32) as compared to those with fair (9.72±3.3) and poor (11.55±3.05) oral hygiene (p=0.012). Those children whose first dental visit was for routine check-up had significantly (p=0.02) lower mean caries scores (7.33±4.65) than those who made their first visit due to dental problem (11.57±4.15). Similarly, those who had topical fluoride applications by dentist had significantly (p=0.003) lower mean caries scores (8.67±4.14) than those with no topical fluoride application (11.9±2.89). CONCLUSION: The studied CP children had very high caries experience and poor oral hygiene. There was strong association between the high caries experience and poor oral hygiene.