Dental profile of the handicapped patients attended at the Instituto de Previdência do Estado do Ceará

Abstract

An oral health’s evaluation was accomplished in the patients attended at Handicap Division Assistance in Instituto de Previdência do Estado do Ceará (IPEC) from January, 1997 through May, 1998 (1,5 years), in order to define the problems that would interfere on the oral treatments’s success, such as their lack of completion, the return to the preventive check up, the oral hygiene’s quality and responsibility and the oral conditions found in these patients, compared to the findings of various authors from the literature. A strong correlation was determined between the patient that concluded his treatment and his return to the preventive check up. However, no correlation was found between the oral hygiene and the performer of this hygiene (patient and/or parent). The oral hygiene’s quality was related to the clinical conditions (diagnosis), because the ones that lacked motricity skills or showed intelligence deficiency presented higher scores for “regular” to “poor” oral hygiene among all the ones studied. The oral situation of the evaluated patients was considered acceptable, although the oral hygiene was not so ideal.