Caries experience of disabled school-age children

A group of 415 disabled school-age children representing 10 different disabling conditions (hereafter called diagnostic groups) were examined and DMFT registered. Parents were interviewed about problems and habits relevant to dental health. The purpose was to study the relationship between different background variables and DMFT. It was assumed that the DMFT might have been influenced by both various predisposing conditions and factors of everyday life. Therefore two indices were made. A multiple classification analysis (MCA) was used to assess the relative importance of different background variables. Age, mother's education, everyday life factors and diagnosis were the variables showing the strongest association with DMFT. Children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, epilepsy and cystic fibrosis had a higher DMFT than the other diagnostic groups.