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Prevalence Of Dental Abnormalities Among Handicapped Children in Lagos
Abstract
Efforts to improve the quality of life of handicapped people are on the increase world wide, their oral health inclusive. Relevant data is required for adequate planning for this purpose.
A survey of 579 handicapped children was carried out in Lagos to assess the various dental abnormalities among them. Over 34% of them had various dental abnormalities, the most commonly encountered being enamel hypoplasia which constituted 12.3%, and more than half of which was chronologic (58.9%). This was predominant among the mentally handicapped (13.5%) and the blind (12.5%). Tetracyline staining was also a common finding particularly among the blind subjects (15.6%).
Spacing and crowding of the teeth were common in Angle's Class I malocclusion in all the handicap groups.
It was found that most of these abnormalities were linked to the cause of the handicaps or as a result of the handicaps.
Key Words: Dental Abnormalities, Handicapped Children, Lagos
[J. of Med. & Medical Sci. Vol.1(1) 1999: 44-49]
A survey of 579 handicapped children was carried out in Lagos to assess the various dental abnormalities among them. Over 34% of them had various dental abnormalities, the most commonly encountered being enamel hypoplasia which constituted 12.3%, and more than half of which was chronologic (58.9%). This was predominant among the mentally handicapped (13.5%) and the blind (12.5%). Tetracyline staining was also a common finding particularly among the blind subjects (15.6%).
Spacing and crowding of the teeth were common in Angle's Class I malocclusion in all the handicap groups.
It was found that most of these abnormalities were linked to the cause of the handicaps or as a result of the handicaps.
Key Words: Dental Abnormalities, Handicapped Children, Lagos
[J. of Med. & Medical Sci. Vol.1(1) 1999: 44-49]
