Unmet oral health needs among persons with intellectual disability.
Adults with ID in institutions or with extra disabilities face double the odds of untreated tooth decay—screen these clients first for dental referrals.
01Research in Context
What this study did
A Serbian team asked adults with intellectual disability about their teeth.
They also checked where each person lived and what other health issues they had.
The goal was to see if living in an institution or having extra disabilities raised the chance of untreated tooth decay and sore gums.
What they found
Adults in institutions had about twice the odds of untreated cavities.
People with more than one disability had even higher odds of both decay and gingivitis.
In short, the more support someone needed, the worse their oral health.
How this fits with other research
Martin et al. (1997) already showed that Dutch adults with ID in residential care carry extra sensory and stomach problems. The new data add bad teeth to that same risk list.
K-Alanay et al. (2007) found higher infection and skin issues in Taiwanese institutions. Petrovic et al. (2016) now say the mouth is part of that same institutional risk package.
Lifshitz et al. (2004) saw high dental problems by age 40 even in Israeli community homes. The Serbian study agrees, but it sharpens the picture: once someone moves into an institution, the decay risk jumps again.
Why it matters
If your client with ID lives in a group home or has multiple diagnoses, put dental screening at the top of your health checklist. A quick referral can stop pain that looks like "problem behavior" and cut missed day-program time.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the factors affecting oral health status among intellectually disabled individuals in Serbia. The sample population was categorized according to age, sex, living arrangements, general health and the level of intellectual disability (ID). The diagnosis of dental caries was performed using the DMFT/dmft criteria. The oral hygiene and gingival health were assessed with the plaque index (Silness&Löe) and gingival index (Löe&Silness), respectively. Descriptive analysis, step-wise and logistic regression were performed to analyze related influential factors for caries presence, number of extracted teeth, teeth restored, the oral hygiene level and the extent of gingival inflammation. Odds ratios for caries were significantly higher among adult persons with ID, in persons with co-occurring developmental disorders (DDS) and increased with the level of ID. Group with DDS was associated with a 1.6 times greater odds of untreated decay, while the institutionalization was associated with 2.4 times greater odds of untreated decay. Institutionalization and co-occurring disabilities have been found to be significantly associated with a higher probability of developing gingivitis. Targeting oral health services to individuals with ID are encouraged and may help to reduce overall negative effect on oral and general health associated with delayed treatments, chronic dental pain, emergency dental care, tooth loss and advanced periodontal disease.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.09.020