Resumen

LEON MARTINEZ, Nancy. Experiencia de caries dental en niños con deficiencias auditivas en dos escuelas del área metropolitana de Caracas, Venezuela.2001. Acta odontol. venez [online]. 2003, vol.41, n.1, pp.4-8. ISSN 0001-6365.

ABSTRACT. The present study was carried out to asses the caries experience of special needs children: hearing impaired in Caracas, Venezuela, to set base-line data and determine their needs for oral health carae. The sample comprised of 50 hearing impaired children: 28 males and 22 females. Their age range from 3-17 years (mean age 10.0 ), attending specials needs school in the metropolitan area of Caracas-Venezuela. The dental condition was evaluated by using the DMFT index(decayed, missed and filled tooth). The clinical examination was carried out by one calibrated dentist. The proportion of caries children was 70%, missed 7% and filled 23%. Caries experience among these special needs children was clearly higher than among the respective age groups in a national survey of normal children. The result provides an evidence for the requirement of providing appropiate oral health promotion and access to the oral health services for the hearing impaired children.

Palabras clave : Dental Caries; DMFT- dmft Index; Special Needs Children; Hearing Impaired.