Oral health behavior and its association with the Caries Index in visually impaired children

To assess the correlation between oral health behavior and the Caries Index (CI) among visually impaired children.

An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2017 in four schools in Surabaya, Indonesia. A total of 34 visually impaired and 34 nonvisually impaired children were selected and included in the study using a total sampling method. The oral health knowledge of, attitude towards, and practice of subjects were assessed by means of questionnaire. The author subsequently performed an intraoral examination of all subjects. The presence and extent of dental caries were recorded using dmft and DMFT scoring and categorized according to WHO classification. Visually impaired children were shown to have a low confidence of interval [CI] of 1.5. A Spearman's statistical test showed that, while knowledge significantly affected the CI of visually impaired children (P < .05), attitude (P = .98), or practice (P = .42) did not.

A correlation clearly exists between oral health knowledge relating to CI in visually impaired children. However, there appeared to be no relationship between attitudes towards and actions in maintaining dental health through a CI in visually impaired children.