ABSTRACT
Children with congenital heart diseases require special dental treatment and care compared to ordinary healthy patients. Therefore, awareness of such specific needs is essential for both the patients and their families. The aim of the present study was to investigate the health status of molar teeth and periodontium in children with congenital heart diseases and evaluating the awareness of parents about their children's specific dental care. A complete dental and oral examination was carried out on 32 children aged 7 to 11 with congenital heart disease followed by assessing the parent's awareness over their children's specific dental care using a questionnaire. From 108 permanent molars, 14.8% were with caries and 34.3% with enamel defect. Complete examination of 226 deciduous molars was also indicative of decay and enamel defect in 45.6% and 3.5%, respectively. Of all patients studied, 40.62% were found to have gingivitis and 18.7% with dental abscess. Regarding the parent's awareness, only 56% of children were revealed to have a previous history of visiting a dentist, and 68.7% of parents were aware of their children's specific needs for antibiotic prophylaxis. Considering the data obtained in our study, the children were found to have unfavorable dental conditions. Hence, such children require to be visited by a dentist on a regular basis and at the same time provided by necessary information on preventive dental care, treatment and oral hygiene