Oral Health Status of a Group of Visually Impaired School Children in Kuala Lumpur

@# Children with visual impairment are reported to be at higher risk of poor oral health. They faced difficulties in basic skills including oral care. For this reason, they may develop dental caries and periodontal disease. The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status of a group of visually impaired school children in Kuala Lumpur. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on students from a Special Education School in Kuala Lumpur. Oral examination was conducted to determine caries experience and oral hygiene status. Caries was measured using DMFT index and simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) for oral hygiene status. Oral examination was based on modified World Health Organization (WHO) oral health assessment criteria for children. Chi-square test was used to determine associations between demographic variables and oral health status. Results: A total of 91 visually impaired students (41 blind, 50 low vision) within the age group of 13 to 17 years old participated in this study. The mean OHI-S score was 1.68 (SD 0.87) with majority of students had fair oral hygiene (39.6%) and 29.7% with poor and very poor oral hygiene. The mean DMFT score of total students were 0.80 (SD 1.62). Male students demonstrated significantly better oral health status than female in relation to prevalence and mean score of dental caries. Conclusion: Most of the visually impaired children in this study showed fair oral health status. Regular oral health education is recommended to improve the oral hygiene especially in the totally blind group.

Characterization of the salivary microbiome in healthy Thai children

Objective: To investigate the composition of the salivary microbiome of 50 healthy Thai children. Methods: A total 76 provinces in Thailand are grouped into 5 geographical clusters based on unique economics, foods and lifestyles. Geographical locations and the results of an oral assessment were also considered. Genomic DNA was extracted from stimulated sdiva samples. Subsequently, amplicon libraries were prepared by 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation. The amplicons were sequenced using an Illumina Miseq platform followed by bioinformatics and statistical analyses. Results: The correlation between oral hygiene status and caries history varied from r2=0.887 to r2=0.999 in the geographical groups, suggesting oral hygiene status a strong association between caries history. Twenty taxonomic groups were found in all subjects and constituted 93.6%-96.5% of the microbiome. Of these, genus Veillonella and Prevotella showed significant differences in their proportions between the geographical groups (P<0.05). Furthermore, the proportion of Veillonella parvula, as well as Rothia aeria and Rothia dentocariosa tended to increase with worse oral hygiene status, which was also related to higher dental caries history. Conclusions: The differences in the salivary microbiome as related to geographic regions suggest that environmental factors, which may include dietary habits, could influence the predominant bacteria found in the mouth of Thai children, especially the genus Veillonella and Prevotella. The ratio of Veillonella parvula, Rothia aeria and Rothia dentocariosa may be indicators of worse oral hygiene status and future caries in this population.

Characterization of the salivary microbiome in healthy Thai children

Objective: To investigate the composition of the salivary microbiome of 50 healthy Thai children. Methods: A total 76 provinces in Thailand are grouped into 5 geographical clusters based on unique economics, foods and lifestyles. Geographical locations and the results of an oral assessment were also considered. Genomic DNA was extracted from stimulated sdiva samples. Subsequently, amplicon libraries were prepared by 16S Metagenomic Sequencing Library Preparation. The amplicons were sequenced using an Illumina Miseq platform followed by bioinformatics and statistical analyses. Results: The correlation between oral hygiene status and caries history varied from r

Is institutionalization a risk factor for poor oral health; a comparison of the oral status of schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorders.

Background: Oral health is an integral part of general health and psychiatric disorders lead them to change their life style and lose concern for general and oral health. In view of this, the study was planned to compare the oral health status in different types of in-patient psychiatric patients. Objective of current study was to study the oral health status in schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorders institutionalized in psychiatric hospital. Methods: 50 Psychiatric patient (43 patients suffering from schizophrenia, 7 patients of bipolar affective disorder,) and 50 unrelated healthy volunteers were taken in the study. Dental examinations were done in both groups to measure the following indices of oral health: decayed, missing, and filled teeth index (DMFT) for caries; simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) for oral hygiene status; and tooth wear index for the wear of teeth. For comparison analyses t test was used. Results: Mean age of the study group was 37.74 years. Mean decayed missing filled teeth index (DMFT) score for study group and control population was 8.52 ± 4.36 vs. 4.72 ± 2.74 vs. 1.81 ± 1.00 (P ≤0.0001). The mean simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) for study group was 3.87±1.21, while that of control was (p≤0.0001).The mean Tooth wear index (TWI) score for study group was found to be 1.62 ± 0.75 and for control group was 1.08±0.48 (P ≤0.0001). Conclusion: Oral health status is affected in psychiatric patients and improving the oral health in psychiatric patients can go long way in improving the quality and management of these patients.