An assessment of the unmet dental needs of children with genetic Intellectual Disability at a combined Dental Genetics iat the Red Cross Childrens' Hospital.

Objectives: To determine:
a. The unmet dental needs of children with genetic Intellectual Disability referred to the combined dental genetics unit of the Universities of the Western Cape and Cape Town at Red Cross Children's hospital.
a. The prevalence of untreated dental caries, gingival disease, missing and filled teeth, malocclusion and structural tooth abnormalities.
b. To compare the frequency of individual clinical parameters between age groups and genders.
Methods: Forty-nine children with genetic ID syndromes between the ages of 3 – 21 years referred to the dental unit at Red Cross Childrens’ hospital were assessed and treated.
Oral screening on all assenting children was undertaken in the dental chair using a light and a mouth mirror according to a protocol formulated by the Special Olympics Special Smiles organisation. Children who did not assent to the evaluation were excluded from the study. The study was reviewed and approved by the UCT Faculty of Health Sciences Ethics Committee for (ref 204/2013).
Participant confidentiality was ensured by an encoded laptop and special designated codes. .Independent variables included age and gender. Categorical dependent data included decayed, filled and missing teeth; gingival disease; malocclusion and structural abnormalities of teeth.
Data was evaluated using a Chi-square test . A p-value < 0.05 rendered statistical significance.
Results: Among children with genetic ID syndromes 41 (84%) had untreated dental caries, teeth were missing in 25 (51%), 37 (75.5%) were affected by malocclusion, 19 (38%) had structural abnormalities of their teeth and 42 (86%) showed signs of gingival disease. The frequency of malocclusion was the only clinical parameter that increased as the children aged. Signs of gingival disease decreased the older the children became. . None of the remaining clinical parameters were influenced by age or gender. Dental restorations were present in 3 children.
Conclusions: Despite the accessibility to dental care, there remains a great need for basic and specialized dental treatment among children with genetic ID syndromes. These findings demand an intensified awareness of the oral health burden among these children.