Latin-American Special Olympics athletes: evaluation of oral health status, 2010.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the oral health status and dental needs of the athletes with intellectual disabilities from Latin-American and Caribbean countries who were participating in the II Latin-American Special Olympics games held in Puerto Rico, February 2010. METHODS: There were 930 athletes who participated in the games, of whom 445 received a dental examination, including 367 from Latin-American and 78 from Caribbean countries. Forty-four trained and standardized dental professionals performed dental screenings of athletes with intellectual disabilities, following Special Olympic Special Smiles and CDC protocols. These criteria were used to record untreated caries, missing and filled teeth, and gingival status. Socio-demographics, existence, and severity of pain and oral hygiene habits were assessed by questionnaire. Statistical analysis was performed using EPI-INFO and SPSS Statistical Program to produce descriptive statistics and chi-square test. RESULTS: Untreated dental caries was recorded for more than half of the examined athletes. Missing teeth were noted in more than one-third of the athletes. More than half of the participants had signs of gingival disease and half needed preventive mouth guards. Statistics for each Latin-American country suggests a dissimilar trend of dental decay and treatment needs among nations. CONCLUSIONS: While the Special Olympic athletes may not be representative of the entire population of individuals with intellectual disabilities in their specific country, the general consistency of the oral health status of these athletes from the 31 countries supports the certainty of the need for increased dental services for individuals with intellectual disability in the respective countries.

General anesthesia: as a challenge and treatment need option in pediatric dentistry.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the type and characteristics of the interventions, indications of dental treatment and procedures performed to patients treated under general anesthesia (GA) by pediatric dentistry residents, during the 1997-1999 period. METHOD: A sample of 57 hospital records of patients treated as part of the Special Pediatric Course at the Puerto Rico Pediatric Hospital were reviewed. Statistical analysis was done using the chi-square test for inferences on proportions. RESULTS: MR patients made up 59.7% and NMR patients made up 40.3% of the sample studied. Ages ranged from 2 to 35 years with a mean age of 11 years (SD=8.54). MR patients were classified into 7 categories: mental retardation (38.2%), cerebral palsy (14.7%), epileptic (5.9%), mental syndromes (26.9%), hydrocephalic (5.9%), autism (5.9%) and others (2.9%). The NMR were classified into 5 categories: early childhood caries (65.2%), cardiac patients (8.7%), maxillofacial anomalies (4.3%), organic syndromes (13.1%) and others (8.7%). The dental procedures performed were: dental extractions 84%(MR) and 68% (NMR), restorative procedures 87.3%(MR) and 12.7%(NMR). Oral prophylaxis was performed in 76.8%, fissure sealants in 10.7% and topical fluoride applications in 21.8%. CONCLUSION: Dental extraction was a frequently performed procedure in both groups. The prevalence of exodontia and restorative procedures indicates the need to design and implement prevention programs for special pediatric patients.