Parental perception of oral health related quality of life and barriers to access dental care among children with intellectual needs in Kottayam, central Kerala-A cross sectional study.

Aim: To evaluate the parental perception of oral health related quality of life and barriers to access dental care among children with intellectual needs.

Method: This cross sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 300 parents of children aged 4-12 years with intellectual needs (mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism). Data on oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) were collected with parental-caregivers perceptions questionnaire (P-CPQ). DMFT/dmft index was used to express caries prevalence as per World Health Organisation. Chi-squared test, analysis of variance, t-test and correlation were performed.

Results: Parents of children who fell in the high severity DMFT category reported higher score in all four domains of OHRQoL when compared to low severity and moderate severity. Parents of children suffering from autism had higher score in all four domain of OHRQoL (p = .000).Majority of the parents rated their children's oral health as either fair (47%) or poor (42%). Predominant barriers for access dental care were financial difficulties (35.3%), lack of knowledge about dental care (24%), transportation difficulties (15%).

Conclusion: The present study revealed that higher caries prevalence has negative impact on OHRQoL of children with intellectual needs and their parents faced certain barriers for accessing dental care.