AU - Basavaraj, P AU - Chandu, G AU - Bhaskar, D AU - , Anuradha TI - Dental Caries Experience, Oral Hygiene Status, Gingitivitis and Malocclusion among 7-14 year old Mentally Retarded Children with different Intelligence Quotient levels PT - ARTI DP - 2011 Jul 1 TA - Journal of Indian Association of Public Health Dentistry PG - 213-226 VI - 9 IP - 17 4099- https://journals.lww.com/aphd/pages/default.aspx/article.asp?issn=2319-5932;year=2011;volume=9;issue=17;spage=213;epage=226;aulast=Basavaraj;type=0 4100- https://journals.lww.com/aphd/pages/default.aspx/article.asp?issn=2319-5932;year=2011;volume=9;issue=17;spage=213;epage=226;aulast=Basavaraj AB - Background: Mental retardation was known during biblical times and referred to in both Greek and Roman literature, but interest in this area was only given impetus in the first half of the 19th century. This interest started in France and Sweden, and spread to other civilized parts of Europe and subsequently to the United States, at which time an American Physician, Samuel Gridley Howe, began establishing residential care institutions for the mentally retarded. Quite often handicapped persons are considered to be highly problematic for their own family members and others. In a country like India where deaths still occur for want of basic medical services; the provision of dental services for the general population is out of reach. In such a situation, dental services for the handicapped seem to be almost an impossibility even if any service was to be provided in the past for the handicapped, it has been only on an adhoc basis with no sharply defined areas of responsibility. Therefore it is important to suggest that such enquiry should be made among this segment of the population Aim and Objectives: To assess Dental Caries Experience, Oral Hygiene Status, Gingitivitis and among mentally retarded children with different Intelligence Quotient levels Material & Methods: Study was conducted in 4 centres of Kamataka namely, Bangalore, Davangere, Dharwad and Shimoga. All the subjects present in these schools on the days of examination were included. A total of 819 (Male - 599, Female - 220) aged between 7-14 were examined. Data was recorded in modified WHO proforma. Results: Hygiene practices followed by the subjects according to the Sex and severity of Mental Retardation 59.7% used Tooth Brush & Tooth paste, 32.6% used tooth & Tooth powder, 6.4% used Finger & Tooth Powder and 1.3% used other method to clean their teeth. om-s values varied from 2.42-4.06. Most of the groups showed the Mean om-s value more than 3.0. Gingival inflammation among Mentally children which varies from 1.04 to 2.20. More than 75% of mentally retarded children had malocclusion of score 1. prevalence of Dental caries varied from 50.0% to 77.8% among mentally retarded children on an average of 63.9%. There is significant difference in the prevalence of dft, dfs , DMFI & DMFS with increasing age. There is significant difference in the oral hygiene status & gingival status according to the severity of malocclusion. Conclusion: The general Oral Hygiene status was poor among these segment of children and the poor oral hygiene showed an increase in trend with increasing age. All children showed one or the other signs of gingival inflammation. The overall gingival health among these mentally retarded children was poor. Malocclusion was observed in most of the children examined. More than 75% children showed slight or more serious anomalies. The prevalence of Dental caries was also high among mentally retarded children may be due to their diet and inadequate use of proper oral hygiene practices.