the children were re-examined for the purpose of intra- examiner reliability. The intra-examiner and inter-exami- ner reliability for DMFT/dmft data was 0.93 and 0.95 res-pectively using Kappa statistics. All the data were entered into a computer using the FOXPRO Software. The data were then analyzed using Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS). RESU LTS A total of 219 children were examined. The distribution of children by their disability and age group is given in Table 1. Table 1 : Distribution of the children by age and handicapping condition * Mentally retarded Blind children All the 6-7-year-old had carious teeth. The mean dmft (decayed, missing and filled primary teeth) score in 6-7- year-olds was 7.58 (SD 2.02) with decayed component of 6.33 (SD2.74) [Table 2]. The mean DMFT (decayed, missing and filled permanent teeth) score in the 6-7-year- old was 1.67 (SD 1.67) with the decayed component as the sole contributor in the mean score (Table 2). The caries prevalence in 11-12-year-old was 88.2% with a mean dmft score of 1.00 (SD 1.9) and with decayed component as the only contributor in the mean dmft score (Table 2) The mean DMFT score in the 11-12-year- olds was 3.80 (SD 2.67) with the decayed component of 3.76 (SD 2.66) as the major contributor in the mean score (Table 2). In 6-7-year-old blind children, about one in ten (8.3%) children had good oral hygiene. In 11-12- year-old children, about one-fourth (29.4%) had good oral hygiene (Table 3). CARIES EXPERIEN CE AN D O RAL H YGIEN E STATU S O F BLIN D , D EAF AN D M EN TALLY RETARD ED FEM ALE CH ILD REN IN RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA Z. AL-QAHTANI *, A. H WYNE ** * Dentist, Presidency of Girls’ Education, Riyadh ** Assistant Professor, Pediatric Dentistry Division, Dept. of Preventive Dental Sciences, King Saud University College of Dentistry, Riyadh INTRODUCTION The dental health of disabled children is very important for several reasons. These children usually have associat- ed medical problems in addition to their primary condi- tion, and any oral or dental problem may further compromise their general health. A poor dental health and esthetics results in a diminished quality of life. It also affects their psychological status, which is already com- promised in many of these children. Dental treatment is difficult to perform in these children due to behavioral problems and, often requires deep sedation or general anesthesia in a hospital setting. There are reports available on various aspects of oral and dental health of cerebral palsy children in Saudi Arabia (11, 12), but there have been no published reports on the dental health status of blind, deaf and mentally retarded children. Such information is important for appropriate policy decisions to improve the oral health of these special need groups. The purpose of the present study was to determine the caries prevalence, severity and oral hygiene status in blind, deaf and mentally retarded fema- le children attending the Presidency of Girls’ Education schools in Riyadh. SU BJECTS AN D M ETH O D S The Presidency of Girls’ Education runs special schools for the blind, the deaf and the mentally retarded female children in Riyadh. All the 6-7-year-old and 11-12-year- old blind, deaf and mentally retarded children registered with these special schools were included in the study. They were examined for dental caries and oral hygiene in a dental operatory setting. The WHO (10) criteria were used for the diagnosis of dental caries. The oral hygiene was assessed utilizing the oral hygiene index described by J AM E S et al (4). The examiner (ZA) was calibrated with the co-author (AW), a pediatric dentistry faculty at King Saud University College of Dentistry. Ten percent of Age (yrs) Blind (%) D eaf (%) MR* (%) Total (%) 12 23 32 67 (17.6) (33.8) (48.5) (31.1) 17 57 77 151 (11.3) (37.7) (51.0) (68.9) 29 80 109 218 (13.2) (36.5) (50.2) (100.0) 11– 2 Total 6 – 7