Special Kids Dental Care

Special kids are truly a blessing for their parents but managing them can be a challenging task for most parents. Special kids are the ones who have any type of mental, physical, psychological, behavioural, or emotional deficits that require medical treatment and management. Children with special needs are unable to perform their daily tasks and activities like other kinds of their age and this includes maintaining their oral hygiene.

Dental care and oral hygiene maintenance often also takes a backseat in such children because of their other urgent medical needs and lack of awareness about dental care for special needs children among parents. Due to this negligence on the parents’ part, kids with special needs often have a higher risk of developing any acute or chronic oral infection throughout their lifetime.

If you are a proud parent of a child with special needs, then you’ve landed at the right place because we’ll provide you all the information that you need to take care of and maintain the oral hygiene status of your child. Before we get started with the dental care practices that such children should engage in, let’s take a look at some of the most common disorders that are seen in children with special needs.

Disorders Commonly Seen In Children With Special Needs

The poor oral hygiene and dental care status in children with special needs is mainly because of the disabilities that they suffer from. Due to such disabilities, these children are more prone to suffer from acute and chronic oral infections than other healthy children of their age. Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly seen disorders in children with special needs:

-Congenital disorders: These are the disorders that result due to a genetic mutation in the child at the time of their birth. Children with congenital disorders are generally born with disorders such as Down’s syndrome, klinefelter's syndrome, congenital heart disease, etc.

-Systemic Diseases: These are the diseases that affect the entire body of the child rather than targeting just one organ system. Example: Hemophilia, Cancer, Sickle Cell Anemia, etc.

-Developmental Disorders: Developmental disorders are the ones that affect the overall normal growth and development of a child. Such disorders can have a significant impact on the intellectual, behavioural, and psychological abilities of a child and make it difficult for them to perform even the most simple day-to-day tasks. Example: Cerebral Palsy, Autism Spectrum Disorders, etc.

-Orofacial Defects: Orofacial defects occur due to hindrances in the formation of the facial features and the oral cavity of the child while still in the womb. Some of the orofacial defects that are commonly seen in children are cleft lip, cleft palate, amelogenesis imperfecta, etc.

-Cognitive Disorders: Like the name suggests, cognitive disorders are the ones that affect the cognitive and intellectual abilities of a child.

-Behavioural Disorders: Children suffering from behavioural disorders show a series of disruptive behavioural issues that can cause difficulty in concentrating on studies, lead to extreme emotional outbursts, etc. Example: Autism, Anxiety, ADHD, etc,

Reasons Why Oral Health Of Children With Special Needs Is Often Neglected

Dental care for special needs children is a burning topic that has recently gained a lot of attention from dental specialists, hygienists, etc. all across the world. Oral hygiene requirements of children with special needs are often ignored by not just their parents but several healthcare professionals as well leading to poor oral health status of such children. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons that act as a barrier to improvement of oral health status in children with special needs:

-Most of the children suffering from major disorders such as cerebral palsy, congenital heart disease, hemophilia, sickle cell anemia, cancer etc. require urgent medical attention, care, and management. Due to this urgent medical requirement, it is largely seen that the dental care requirements of such children get ignored by both the parents and healthcare professionals.

-Most parents who do want to pay attention to the oral health status of their child with special needs, often face difficulty in finding specialists who can handle their children with utmost love, care, and professionalism.

-Statistics have revealed that parents with children with special needs often have limited or no knowledge about the importance of oral hygiene in their child’s life.

-Due to suffering from behavioural, intellectual, cognitive, and other congenital disorders, children with special needs are often scared of visiting a dentist and have an uncooperative behaviour towards their treatment requirements.

-Lastly, the treatment cost for improving the oral hygiene status in such children is much higher than for children without any special needs.

Oral Health Disorders In Children With Special Needs

Now that you’ve understood what all disorders are commonly seen in children with special needs and why they’re unable to receive dental treatment like other kids of their age, let’s take a look at some of the commonly seen dental problems in such children.

-Dental Decay: Just like in children and adults, tooth decay is also a common occurrence in children with special needs. Dental decay is even more common in children who suffer from other dental anomalies such as enamel hypo plastic or have crooked or misaligned teeth. Unhealthy eating habits and diet have a more serious impact on the teeth of such children because they’re unable to follow an oral hygiene routine and clean their teeth every day.

-Trauma: Children who suffer from certain developmental disorders often have seizures, poor muscle coordination, and a delay in achieving cognitive milestones. These conditions can sometimes cause serious trauma to the orofacial tissues and result in even permanent damage in severe cases.

-Periodontal Diseases: Due to the inability to maintain a healthy oral hygiene status, children with special needs often suffer from periodontal diseases. Periodontal diseases are the ones that affect the structures holding the tooth in place such as the gums, periodontal ligament, and the alveolar bone. Also, children who suffer from seizures are often on certain medications that can result in an overgrowth of gums leading to their inflammation and have difficulty performing functional movements such as those involved in mastication of food.

-Enamel Hypoplasia: We all know that enamel is the tooth surface layer that preserves and protects the tooth. In children with special needs, sometimes the enamel layer may be too thin leading to a condition named enamel hypoplasia. Some of the common signs and symptoms of enamel hypoplasia are - teeth with white and yellow-brown spots, grooves, pits, and chipping off of the enamel surface. Children who are born with congenital disorders are at an increased risk of developing enamel hypoplasia.

-Misaligned Teeth: Children who suffer from mental disorders such as autism, cerebral palsy, etc. often have crowded or misaligned teeth. There is a lack of muscle coordination between the intraoral and extraoral muscles that results in a disturbed relationship between the upper and lower jaw. This disturbance results in crowded teeth, anterior and posterior cross bite, spacing between teeth, etc.

-Tooth-related Defects: Children with special needs also have a higher chance of developing tooth-related dental anomalies. These anomalies can result in delayed tooth eruption and disturbances in the number, shape, size, and arch form of the teeth. Even though these disturbances might not cause any affect in functionality, they do hinder the aesthetic appearance of such children.

-Bruxism: If you notice that your child with special needs grinds their teeth against each other while sleeping, then they could be suffering from a condition called bruxism. Bruxism is commonly seen in children suffering from mental disorders such as cerebral palsy and autism. Such children also complain of having sharp shooting headaches, severe teeth sensitivity, difficulty chewing their food, etc.

Tips For Dental Care In Children With Special Needs

You can significantly improve the oral hygiene status of your child with special needs by taking a few preventive measures and taking them regularly to their pedodontist. Let’s take a look at some of the preventive measures that you can take at home:

-Dental care for children with special needs starts right from their birth. When your child attains the age of three months, get into the habit of wiping their gums after feeding them. To do this, wrap a cotton gauze around your finger and dip it in some water. Gently clean your baby’s gums with this damp cotton gauze twice a day at least.

-Children who sleep with their bottle of milk in their mouth are at a higher risk of developing childhood rampant caries that can lead to severe tooth decay and even tooth loss in extreme cases. Therefore, avoid putting your child to sleep with their bottle of milk.

-Once your child is at least two years old, you can use a small-headed toothbrush to clean their teeth. Just use a pea-sized amount of fluoridated toothpaste to clean your child’s teeth.

-Ensure that your child develops the habit of rinsing their mouth after every meal.

-If your child is unable to brush his/her teeth on their own due to poor grip, you can use certain adhesive tapes around the toothbrush handles or invest in some ergonomically designed toothbrushes.

-You must avoid transferring a toothbrush from your mouth to your child’s mouth due to an increased risk of infection in children with special needs.

-Lastly, pay attention to their diet and ensure that you don’t let your kids consume too much sugar. Also, take your child for regular dental visits right from the time when their first tooth erupts in the oral cavity. Visit your child’s pedodontist for more healthy tips!