ORAL HEALTH CONDITION OF 12-YEAR-OLD HANDICAPPED-CHILDREN IN FLANDERS(BELGIUM)

The dental condition of 626 12-year-old handicapped children with mild mental or moderate to severe mental retardation or learning impairmen t, being 25% of the population of each of these groups, was examined i n Flanders. An evaluation of oral cleanliness showed poor oral hygiene in 31.8% of the children. No significant differences were found in or al cleanliness among types of handicapping conditions, The mean DMFT s core was 2.9 (s: 2.6) and DMFS score was 5.4 (s: 5.6). Almost 21% of t he children were free of caries or fillings. No significant difference s were found among groups of handicapped children. Handicapped childre n presented a low level of restorative care (restorative index score: 48.7%). Mildly mentally retarded children demonstrated the lowest rest orative index (43.9%). The caries experience of first permanent molars represented the largest part of the DMFT score (64.1%). Sealants were present in 7.9% of children examined. A considerable percentage of mi ldly mentally retarded children and learning impaired children did not brush daily (22.1% and 20.9%) and did not receive help with toothbrus hing from their parents or carers (91.0% and 94.7%, respectively).