Are Teachers Working with Visually Impaired Children Prepared to Be Advocates of Oral Health? Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND: Children and adolescents with visual impairment are at increased risk of oral cavity diseases. Pro-health education in their prevention and the role of educators and school counselors are extremely important in this aspect. The aim of the study was to collect information, and compare and analyze the level of pro-health awareness in the field of oral health prevention among teachers working with visually impaired children in Poland and Slovakia. METHODS: The questionnaire survey covered 109 school educators working with visually impaired children. The survey contained general information about participants concerning their knowledge of oral health, basic information about oral hygiene, and children's care needs in this area. The obtained results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The level of knowledge about oral health was assessed by the majority of respondents as rather good (60.56%), 28.44% as very good, and 11.01% as middling. Teaching children about oral hygiene at school was declared by a majority of them and over half of the correct answers were given by only 48.42% of the respondents. CONCLUSIONS: It is advisable to intensify the oral cavity diseases prevention training of teachers working with visually impaired children and youth and there is a great need to organize and carry out educational campaigns in schools for them.

Streptococcus sobrinus as a Predominant Oral Bacteria Related to the Occurrence of Dental Caries in Polish Children at 12 Years Old.

Dental caries is listed by the WHO as one of the major non-communicable diseases that need to be prevented and treated. The aim of the study was to evaluate the prevalence and severity of caries expressed as the Decayed, Missing and Filled Permanent Teeth (DMFT) index in 12-year-old Polish children and to verify bacterial species related to the occurrence of dental caries. Quantitative real-time PCR analysis of DNA isolated from saliva samples was performed to detect 8 cariogenic and periopathogenic bacterial strains. A total of 118 Polish children were enrolled in the study. They had low mean DMFT scores of 1.58 ± 1.98. The prevalence of dental caries in the children tested was low (53.4%), with a tendency to decrease compared to previous oral surveys. Bacterial abundance of other species in the dental caries and caries-free groups did not differ; however, periopathogenic Prevotella pallens, Fusobacterium nucleatum along with cariogenic Streptococcus mutans and Lactobacillus fermentum were significantly strongly correlated in the caries-active subjects. The prevalence of S. sobrinus was significantly higher in children with dental caries (p = 0.023) and correlated with higher DMFT. It may temporarily play an important role in the initiation of the cariogenic process or in its enhancement due to an ecological imbalance in dental microbiota.