Assessment of oral hygiene status and brushing practices among institutionalized speech and hearing impaired children at South Coorg.

Assessment and medical attention is required evaluate and improvise the quality of life of disabled children. Prevalence of deaf and dumb children in India is 10.8 and 6.8 in urban and rural areas respectively. limitations in communication might be the primary cause of deaf and dumb children oral neglect. People with disabilities deserve the same opportunity of health care as that of the normal healthy individuals. when diagnosing oral health status of the target population, health professionals should ensure that the child’s caregivers have demonstrated an understanding of the condition, its consequences and the recommended treatment, Thus assessment of oral hygiene status of deaf and dumb children and their brushing practices needs to be done, to come up with a preventive strategy.

A descriptive cross sectional study will be conducted among institutionalized deaf and dumb children of age group 6 to 13 years, to evaluate the oral hygiene status. Research will be carried out at the institution with the consent from authorities. A questionnaire will be made with the guidance of subject experts and it will be validated by clinical psychologist. Study will contain 2 parts, recording oral hygiene status of students and assessing the brushing practices of the children using a questionnaire. Collected data will be statistically analysed and results will be published.