Oral Health Status of Normal Children and those Affiliated with Cardiac Diseases

If a child's general health is compromised, care for his/her oral and dental health becomes an absolute necessity. Children with heart diseases require special dental care because of the risk of developing infective endocarditis. Aims and objectives was to evaluate the oral health status, parental oral health care knowledge of the pediatric cardiac patients and non cardiac group and infective endocarditis awareness among the parents of the cardiac group. Materials and methods include a total of 50 children with heart diseases and 50 non -cardiac children aged 2-12 years were examined for dental caries index and simplified debris index. A structured, administered questionnaire for parents/caregivers about knowledge of infective endocarditis and oral health were used for data collection. Results showed no statistically significant differences between the caries experience score for the two groups and oral health knowledge. Knowledge about Infective Endocarditis in parents of study group was very poor. Simplified Debris Index of age group 6-12 years was higher in study groups compared to the controls. Conclusion: Improvements should be made in educating parents and children on the importance of caries prevention and maintaining a good oral hygiene in prevention of infective endocarditis.