Oral health perceptions, behaviors, and barriers among differently abled and healthy children.

Aim: To describe and compare the oral health perceptions, behaviors, and barriers for utilization of dental care among differently abled and healthy children.

Methods: Participants in this cross-sectional study were differently abled and healthy children belonging to the age group of 7-15 years. A questionnaire for measuring the children's perceptions, behaviors, and barriers was developed, validated, and applied to this study. Cronbach's α was calculated to test reliability, and test-retest reliability was assessed by Pearson's correlation test. Chi-square/Fisher exact test, Mann-Whitney U test, and factor analysis were also applied. Statistical significant differences were defined as P < 0.05, two-tailed.

Results: A total number of 300 children in each group participated in the study. The correlations of test and retest for the questionnaire ranged from 0.69 to 0.86 (P < 0.05) with Cronbach's α score of 0.862. More than half in both the groups were aware of the presence of fluoride in their toothpaste, and parents agreed that a child's dental health is satisfactory yet only one-third of them perceived dental problems as serious. Regarding brushing twice daily, the frequency was better in the study group (26.3% and 17.3%, P = 0.01), most of them changed their toothbrush between 3 and 6 months (67.3% and 82.0%, P < 0.001), and tongue cleaner were regularly used as an oral hygiene aid (62.3% and 88.5%, P = 0.01). Members of the study group appear to have visited the dentist (26.0%) more as compared to the control group (17.7%) (P = 0.01), and most of the respondents (50.0% and 41.5%) consulted the dentist on account of dental caries. In the study group, no priority care (8.82±2.81), difficulty in communicating with the dentist (7.85±1.92), treatment cost (6.90±1.98) and fear of dental instruments (6.90±1.98), respectively, were the barriers with the highest means of scores, whereas in the control group it was related to affordability and fear. Facilities in dental clinics excluding wheelchairs (76.3% and 76.7%) and corridor signs (66.3% and 61.7%) were lacking.

Conclusion: Knowledge and attitude scores were adequate but there was a discrepancy present concerning oral health practices. Dental health was not viewed as a threat, and therefore, not many visited the dentist. Priority care and communication problems were the central issues among differently abled children, while among healthy children, the main factor was cost and fear.