INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC & TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH VOLUME 1, ISSUE 11, DECEMBER 2012 ISSN 2277-8616 19 IJSTR©2012 www.ijstr.org Oral Health Status of Institutionalized Street Children Aged 5-15 Years In Guntur City, Andhra Pradesh, India Dr. Srinivas R, Dr. P. Srinivas, Dr. V. Viswanath, Dr. S. Suresh, Dr. T. Devaki and Dr. V. Narayana ABSTRACT :- OBJECTIVES: To assess the oral health status, oral hygiene practices and personal habits of institutionalized street children in Guntur city. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on all street children (255) between 5 -15 years present during the study period in Guntur city. Information regarding the demographic factors, personal habits and oral hygiene practices was obtained by interview method using questionnaire in a private area away from other participants. Along with this oral examination was performed according to ADA type III examination using mouth mirror, CPI probe in a natural day light. Data was collected by using modified WHO Proforma (1997). RESULTS: Mean age of study subjects was 11.02±2.3. Among the children interviewed in the present study, 3.1% had indulged in substance use any time in their life. Bleeding and calculus was diagnosed as 52.5% and 42.4% respectively in children. Prevalence of dental caries was 50.19%. The mean dmft value was 0.70±0.395 and mean DMFT value was 0.49±0.930. 43.13% subjects require one surface filling, 11.4% subjects require two or more surface fillings, 17.3% subjects require extraction. CONCLUSION: The present study reveals higher levels of dental caries experience and untreated dental disease. Institutionalized street children from present study are commonly faced with oral health problems, especially periodontal problems. KEY WORDS: Institutionalized Street children, Substance use, Caries prevalence, Treatment needs. INTRODUCTION: Street children are increasingly seen as part of the urban landscape, the world over. There are social and institutional factors that serve to sustain their presence. They are a result of increasing poverty and unemployment, increased migration of families, broken families, neglect, abuse and violence, armed conflicts, natural and man made disasters, decreasing resources in rural areas and the attraction of cities 1 . In India, the traditional approach towards care of children in difficult circumstances has been institutionalization. This practice started with the realization of the fact that there were a large number of children without parental care, vulnerable and in need of care and protection. State interventions resulted in setting up of state run institutions to provide food, shelter, clothing and education to children who were not living in the family environment 1 . Studies on oral health status of street children are scarce 2 . In India there are research studies on general health status of street children which includes oral health as a part of it, where as there are no direct studies on oral health status of street children in Andhra Pradesh. Hence the present study aims to assess the oral health status, oral hygiene practices and personal habits of institutionalized street children in Guntur city, Andhra Pradesh. MATERIALS AND METHOD: A total of 255 street children aged between 5-15 years participated in this study. Of these 64 (25.1%) were boys 191 (74.9%) were girls. These were drawn from five institutions which take care of street children in Guntur city. A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on all street children (255) aged between 5 -15 years present during the study period in institutionalized homes in Guntur city. Ethical clearance was obtained from the ethical committee of SIBAR Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur and prior permission was obtained from Head of the Department and Principal to conduct the study. Permission to conduct this study was sought from the Rajiv Vidya Mission and institution authorities respectively. Children from all the institutions were included in this study. Informed consent was obtained from individual homes prior to the study. All the street children who are living in the institutional homes between 5 to 15 years of age are included and children who are not agreed to participate in the study were excluded. Study was conducted for a period of 4 months, between May 2011 to August 2011. Information regarding the demographic factors, personal habits and oral hygiene practices was obtained from 20 study subjects in a day by interview method using questionnaire in a private area away from other participants. Along with this oral examination was performed according to ADA type III examination using mouth mirror, CPI probe in a natural day light 3 . Data was collected by using modified WHO Proforma (1997) 4 . Modified WHO Proforma (1997) was used to collect information about dental fluorosis, community periodontal index status; dentition status and treatment needs and dentofacial anomalies. Data were transferred from pre coded Proforma to excel sheet in computer and were analyzed using SPSS-15. Chi-square test, Fisher exact test and ANOVA test were used. DAI (Dental Aesthetic Index) score was calculated by using regression equation 4 . _______________________________ Dr. Srinivas R1, Dr. P. Srinivas2, Dr. V. Viswanath3, Dr. S. Suresh4, Dr. T. Devaki5 and Dr. V. Narayana6. 1 MDS, Dept. of Public Health Dentistry; 2 Professor and Head of the Dept. Public Health Dentistry; 3Professor in the Dept. of Public Health Dentistry; 4 Reader in the Dept. of Public Health Dentistry; 5 Assistant professor in the Dept. of Public Health Dentistry; 6 Assistant professor in the Dept. of Public Health Dentistry - Sibar Institute of Dental Sciences, Guntur, India.