Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 21, 2026

Oral Health Assessment by Lay Personnel for Older Adults
Published on: February 2, 2020
Children with Special Health Care Needs: Exploring the Relationships between Patients' Level of Functioning, Their
Elena G Petrova1, Michael Hyman2, Maria Regina Padilla Estrella3
1University of Minnesota, School of Dentistry, Minneapolis, Minn., USA.
Purpose:
The purposes of this study were to increase dentists' understanding of how to best engage parents and their children with special health care needs (SHCN) in oral health promotion efforts and explore the relationships between these patients' level of functioning and oral health and their parents' comfort concerning oral health promotion.
Methods:
Survey data were collected from 154 caregivers of SHCN children. Children's oral health data were obtained from their clinical charts.
Results:
The patients' level of functioning ranged from the lowest to the highest regarding their ability to listen/understand, talk, relate to others, care for themselves, play with others, and participate in physical activities. Children's gingival health was correlated with their ability to talk (r=-.12; P<.05). Their oral hygiene score correlated with their ability to talk (r=.18; P<.05) and their skills in social play interactions (r=.21; P<.05). The parents' comfort level concerning oral health promotion correlated positively with their child's level of functioning. Parents' interest in receiving oral health instruction correlated positively with their child's level of functioning.
Conclusions:
Understanding patient's level of functioning might predict the degree to which parents actually engage in oral health promotion efforts and are interested in oral health-related education.
Related Concept Videos
Assessment of the Mouth
Mouth Inspection
The inspection begins with visually examining the mouth for symmetry, color, and size.
Documentation in Long-Term and Home Healthcare Setting
Long-Term Care Facilities
Traditional Level Of Health Care System
The preventive healthcare service includes tests for screening. Preventive health care services include identifying and reducing disease risk...
Oral Cavity
Teeth: The teeth are the hardest structures in our bodies. Humans have two sets of teeth throughout their lifetime: deciduous (baby) teeth and permanent teeth. Each tooth consists of several parts: the crown (visible part), the root (embedded in the jaw), enamel (hard outer...
Teeth
In the bud stage, the tooth germ (an aggregation of cells) starts to form in the developing jawbone. During the cap stage, the tooth germ differentiates into enamel organ, dental papilla, and dental sac, which will later develop into the tooth's enamel, dentin...
Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Oral
Weaning, typically occurring...

