Caries experience and oral hygiene status of cerebral palsy children in Riyadh.

The purpose of this study was to determine the caries experience and oral hygiene (OH) status of cerebral palsy (CP) children in Riyadh area. One hundred and forty CP children [82 (58.6%) males & 58 (41.4%) females] were examined for dental caries and OH status in dental clinic of the Disabled Children's Association Center, Riyadh. The children were divided into three age groups; first group 3-6 years old (41 children), second group 7-9 years old (52 children) and third group 10-12 years old (47 children). The mean DMFS (decayed, missing and filled surfaces) score for the first group was 18.8 (+/- 16.3), with the DS component of 10.9 (+/- 7.5), MS component of 3.7 (+/- 10.4) and FS component of 4.1 (+/- 8.9). For the second group the mean DMFS was 23.4 (+/- 17.7) with DS component of 15.4 (+/-12.1), MS component of 4.1 (+/-9.0) and FS component of 3.8 (+/- 8.5). The corresponding values for the third group were 20.5 (+/- 14.0), 12.4 (+/- 9.7), 5.1 (+/- 12.4) and 2.9 (+/- 5.5) respectively. There was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) in caries experience between the three age groups. Very few (5.7%) CP children were rated as having good OH. There was a strong association between poor oral hygiene status and high DMFS score. It can be concluded that the caries experience of CP children in Riyadh is very high, and that very few of these children have good oral hygiene.