Oral Hygiene practices of institutionalized mentally handicapped individuals in Karachi

Background: Oral hygiene practices are deliberate physical activities that have at least two requirements: motivation and manual skills. Poor oral hygiene is perhaps more prevalent among mentally handicapped individuals because they are unable to maintain their own oral hygiene and require the assistance of another person to perform these activities. Purpose: To assess the Oral health care practices of institutionalized mentally handicapped individuals as reported by their care takers. Material and methods: Study sample comprised of 163 mentally challenged individuals residing in a special school (Dar-ul-Sukun) in Karachi, Pakistan. The information regarding the oral hygiene practices and sweet consumption was gathered from their care takers using an interview administered questionnaire. Results: Nearly 17% (n=27) subjects never clean their teeth neither they allow their care takers to brush their teeth, almost 48% (n=78) subjects were assisted by their care takers and 36% (n=58) brushed their teeth by themselves. 65% of the subjects brushed their teeth once daily in morning and that about 84% (n=114) used the toothbrush and tooth paste for cleaning. 71% (n=116) subjects never visited a dentist. Moreover, 89% (n=145) consume sweets out of which more than 57% (n=83) consume sweets more than twice or twice daily in between meals. Conclusion: The current study highlighted that the oral hygiene practices of these individuals are not appropriate and oral health education and training programs should be designed for the care takers of these individuals in order to improve their oral hygiene practices.