Congenital Heart Disease The Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry Volume 36, Number 1/2011 93 INTRODUCTION C ongenital heart disease (CHD) is a devastating com- plex of diseases resulting from defects of develop- ment of the heart. It affects more than 1 of every 100 live births. 1 The epidemiology of heart disease in children has changed over the past 3 to 4 decades. There is an increased survival rate of children with congenital heart dis- ease with an overall decrease in rheumatic valvular heart disease in the developed countries, and CHD now consti- tutes the predominant underlying condition for Infective Endocarditis (IE) in children over the age of 2 years in these countries. 2 The three main concerns when providing dental care for patients with valvular heart disease: are the a) risk of infective endocarditis, b) risk of bleeding in anticoagu- lated patients, c) risk of exacerbating any co-existing heart failure. 3 The causative microorganism for infective endocarditis in more than 60% of the patients with positive hemoculture are streptococci with viridans streptococci, especially strep- tococcus sanguis, s mitior and s mutans. 4 It was reported that children with congenital cardiac disease (CCD) had higher levels of dental caries, enamel hypoplasia and periodontal disease, compared with healthy children. 5 Also open carious lesions, extensive deposits of plaque, and widespread areas of gingival inflammation represent an enormous bacterial loading of Viridans streptococci within the mouth. This is important in further development of dental disease and the potentially life threatening condition of bacterial endocardi- tis from Viridans streptococci. 6 Several authors have focussed on the prevalence and severity of dental diseases such as caries, hypoplasia, poor gingival health, malocclu- sion and the inadequate professional and home care given to these children. 4,5,6,7 Some of the studies address the use of a suitable preventive protocol to be followed in these children so as to prevent dental diseases and thereby reduce the chances of infective endocarditis. 4,5,8 MATERIALS AND METHOD Seventy-four children between the ages 5–16 years with congenital heart disease were selected for the study. Thirty healthy siblings belonging to the same age group, with no other underlying systemic problem evaluated by the pedia- trician were included in the control group. Children with dental carious lesions and who were uncooperative were Oral Health of Children with Congenital Heart Disease following Preventive Treatment Suvarna Reshma M * / Rai Kavitha ** / Hegde Amitha M *** Congenital heart disease (CHD), abnormalities in the structural development of the heart, occurs in approx- imately 8:1000 live births. The causative microorganism for infective endocarditis in more than 60% of the patients with positive hemoculture of viridans streptococci (s.mutans, s.mitior) thus making it mandatory for these children to maintain their oral health. The present study assessed the oral health of children with con- genital heart disease following preventive treatment. A total of 74 children with congenital heart disease were selected for the study with 30 healthy controls between the ages 5-16. The oral health was assessed by measuring the microbial counts, the OHI-S and the gingival indices. The data thus obtained were subjected to paired and unpaired t - test. Poor oral health was prevalent among these children of the study group as compared to the controls indicating a lack of sound knowledge of the maintenance of oral hygiene. Following preventive treatment the oral health improved considerably. Keywords: oral health, congenital heart disease, preventive treatment, children J Clin Pediatr Dent 36(1): 93–98, 2011 *Reshma M Suvarna, Post graduate student, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Children Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences. **Kavitha Rai, Professor, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Children Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences. ***Amitha M Hegde, Professor and Head, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Children Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences. Send all correspondence to: Dr. Amitha M. Hegde, Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Pedodontics and Preventive Children Dentistry, A.B. Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Derlakatte, Mangalore-575018, Karnataka, India. Fax no: 0824-2204572 Email: amipedo@yahoo.co.in reshma_64@rediffmail.com