Dental Caries and Periodontal Disease in Brazilian Children and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy

The aim of the present study was determine the prevalence and factors associated with dental caries and periodontal disease in Brazilian children and adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP). This is a cross-sectional study conducted with 80 patients ranging in age from 2 to 18 years old. Oral exams were conducted by an examiner with records of DMFT, dmft, Gingival Bleeding Index (GBI) and Community Periodontal Index (CPI). The statistical analysis used Poisson Regression with robust variance estimation (alpha = 0.05). The prevalence of dental caries was 59.3%, with DMFT and mean dmft of 1.71 +/- 2.42 and 2.22 +/- 3.23, respectively. The mean GBI was 22.44%, and in the CPI, the prevalence of gingival bleeding, calculus, shallow and deep pockets were 94.73%, 79.62%, 12.90% and 3.22%, respectively. The caregiver's educational level of less than eight years were associated with the dental caries experience (PR = 1.439; 95% CI = 1.09-1.89). The periodontal alterations were associated with female sex (PR = 0.82; 95% CI = 0.69-0.97), caregiver's educational level of less than eight years (PR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.03-1.29), poor oral perception (PR = 0.89; 95% CI = 0.80-0.98), serious communication problem (PR = 0.87; 95% CI = 0.76-0.99) and athetoid type of CP (PR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.75-0.97). The patients with CP presented high dental caries experience and periodontal alterations, which were associated with their demographic, socioeconomic, oral health perception and systemic information.