Oral hygiene and oral status of institutionalized children with motor and intellectual disabilities

The oral hygiene and oral status of children with severe disabilities with both nutritional and respiratory complications who were institutionalized at Karugamonoie (KNI), a facility for children with disabilities, were investigated in this study. Their oral hygiene management was solely dependent on caregivers and nurses at the institution. Thirty children (13 females, 17 males; average age, 7.6 years) who had a tracheotomy and feeding tube (gastrostomy, nasogastric, or jejunostomy feeding tube) were included in the study. As for oral characteristics, poor control of tongue movement, anterior open-bite, abnormal strain of facial muscles, dry mouth, and swallowing dysfunction were found in 63.3%, 63.3%, 13.3%, 20.0%, and 100.0%, of the children, respectively. The mean ± standard deviation Decayed, Missing, Filled Teeth score was 0.13 ± 0.57. The Gingival Index (GI) showed that the children had mild (53.3%) to moderate (46.7%) gingivitis. The Simplified Oral Hygiene Index was excellent in 50.0% of the children, good in 23.3%, fair in 20.0%, and poor in 6.7% of the children. These indices were satisfactory in general except for GI management, which may have been hampered by abnormal oral functions and anterior open-bite. In conclusion, oral hygiene management of children with nutritional and respiratory complications at KNI was shown to be of high quality even without on-site intervention by dental specialists.