Affiliation:
1. Department of Social and Pediatric Dentistry, School of Dentistry Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora Juiz de Fora Minas Gerais Brazil
2. Department of Pediatric Dentistry School of Dentistry, School of Medical Sciences – SUPREMA Juiz de Fora Minas Gerais Brazil
3. Department of Pediatric Dentistry School of Dentistry Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais Belo Horizonte Minas Gerais Brazil
Abstract
AbstractAimTo compare oral health indicators of children/adolescents with Down syndrome (DS) with a group of children/adolescents without DS.Methods and ResultsThis cross‐sectional study included 144 individuals with DS, ages 4 to 18 years, matched for age and sex with a group of 144 individuals without DS, and their parents/caregivers. Parents/caregivers completed a questionnaire regarding sociodemographic information and habits related to their children's oral health. Clinical examination of the children/adolescents evaluated dental caries experience (DMFT/dmft), bleeding on periodontal probing, presence of visible plaque, clinical consequences of untreated dental caries (PUFA/pufa), and malocclusion (DAI). Thechi‐squaretest, linear by linear test, and Mann‐Whitney test were used to compare the variables between the groups (p< .05). Children/adolescents without DS brushed their teeth more times per day (p< .001) and had a higher frequency of daily sugar intake (p< .001). The children/adolescents in the DS group had a greater presence of gingival bleeding (p< .001) and had a greater number of cases of “severe malocclusion” and “very severe malocclusion” (p= .001). No difference was found in the prevalence of dental caries between the two groups.ConclusionThe children/adolescents in the DS group had a greater presence of gingival bleeding during the clinical examination and had a greater need for orthodontic treatment.