Dental and Maxillofacial Findings in Cerebral Palsy Children from Sulaimani City: Assessment for Unmet Dental Needs

Objective: This study was carried out, aiming to analyze the frequency and factors related to dental and maxillofacial findings, caries experience, and oral hygiene status among Kurdish Children with Cerebral Palsy in Sulaimani governorate. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 100 cerebral palsy children. They were subjected to extra and intraoral examination for dental and maxillofacial changes after obtaining medical and dental histories. The mean DMF/dmf index, significant caries index, met need index (MNI), restorative index (RI), and simplified oral hygiene index, were recorded. Independent t-test, Chi-square tests, and Spearman correlation coefficient were used to analyze the data, and P-value < 0.05 considered significant. Results: Nearly half of our cerebral palsy children were delivered by Cesarean section, diagnosed after birth with jaundice and had mental retardation. The premature delivery associated with cerebral palsy types (P=.006). Extra-oral features were normal in 41% of children. Hypertelorism was the predominant facial finding (48%), and 55% showed malocclusion (class II & III). Dental caries was observed in 55% of the patients, mostly in the primary dentition (mean dmft index =3.18) and the significant caries index =8.69. The MNI (=0.455) and RI (=0.412) were higher in the permanent dentition. The majority of children had good oral hygiene. No correlation was found between cerebral palsy and the studied parameters. Conclusions: Children with cerebral palsy showed a high incidence of dental caries in primary dentition, malocclusion, and surprisingly good oral hygiene, but none of which was correlated to any type of cerebral palsy.