RT - Journal TY - JOUR A1 - Verma, Jayshree A1 - Srivastava, Aakash A1 - Gupta, Kritika T1 - Prevalence of dental caries and oral hygiene status among institutionalized special children and normal children in District Mandi of Himachal Pradesh: A comparative study YR - 2021/1/1 JF - International Journal of Pedodontic Rehabilitation JO - Int J Pedod Rehabil SP - 11 OP - 16 VO - 6 IS - 1 UL - https://www.ijpedor.org/article.asp?issn=2468-8932;year=2021;volume=6;issue=1;spage=11;epage=16;aulast=Verma;t=5 DO - 10.4103/ijpr.ijpr_1_21 N2 - Aim: Assessment and comparison of oral hygiene status and caries experience between the institutionalized special children and a group of healthy children, along with, association of oral hygiene with various sociodemographic variables (age, sex, etc.) and clinical variables (brushing frequency, cleaning mode, material used, etc.). Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted in district Mandi of Himachal Pradesh on 384 children aged 6–17 years, of which 184 belonged to special health-care needs and 200 healthy subjects were selected randomly from three other government schools. Oral hygiene status and caries were clinically examined using simplified oral hygiene index (OHI-S) index, decayed, missing, filled teeth (DMFT), and decayed-extracted-filled teeth index, respectively. Results: Mean OHI(S) scores for mentally retarded, visually impaired, hearing impaired, and healthy children were 3.08 ± 1.35, 1.49 ± 1.44, 0.81 ± 0.95, and 1.14 ± 0.97, respectively, and the results were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Mean DMFT scores for mentally retarded, visually impaired, hearing impaired, and healthy children were 1.48 ± 1.96, 0.85 ± 1.06, 0.68 ± 1.23, and 1.64 ± 1.70, respectively, and were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Mean OHI(S) score was significantly more for mentally retarded children followed by visually impaired, healthy, and hearing impaired whereas mean DMFT score was significantly more for healthy children followed by mentally retarded, visually impaired and hearing-impaired children. ER -