Medicina Neonatal e Pediátrica

Abstrato

The Effects of the Asthma and Its Treatments on Oral Health of Children: A Case Control Study

Hanane Chakiri1*, Loubna Bahije, Rachid Fawzi

Abstract Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the oral hygiene practice and oral health of children with bronchial asthma. Materials and methods: This study was conducted among 114 asthmatic children and 114 case-controls, who consulted at Rabat Children’s Hospital. The two groups had the same distribution regarding age and gender. Survey forms consist of two major components. Firstly, the questionnaire was used to gather general data related to asthma and data related to the oral hygiene. Secondly, the clinical examination was used to identify variables related to oral health status (decayed, missed and filled teeth index DMF, Plaques Index PI, Gingival Index GI, salivary flow). The results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS Version 13.0) for Windows. Results: Our study has identified results with a statistically significant difference between the asthmatic group and the control group on most variables: The mean DMF index for this population was 5.08 ± 3.06 vs. 4.28 ± 2.97 for the control group (p=0.04), the mean PI was 1.49 ± 0.49 vs. 1.22 ± 0.45 for the control group (p<0.001), the average GI was 1.54 ± 0.62 vs. 1.22 ± 0.42 for the control group (p<0.001). On the other hand, the number of children with reduced salivary flow was higher in asthmatic children 68 (59.6%) than in the control children 6 (5.3%) (p<0.01). Conclusion: Our study has revealed that asthma, associated or not with its treatment, is a risk factors for dental caries, plaque formation and gingivitis.