Behavior of dental caries in patients with disabilities who attend Clinic Dei Bambini Portoviejo and its economic impact

Abstract

Caries is one of the most frequent dental pathologies worldwide, it produces progressive destruction of dental tissue; In the world there are thousands of people who suffer from some type of disability, who present poor oral hygiene and severe oral diseases due to little or no visit to the dentist. The objective of this study is to determine the behavior of caries and its economic impact in patients with disabilities. In this study, the population was taken as patients with disabilities who attend the Dei Bambini clinic in the city of Portoviejo, between 2019 and January 2023; obtaining a sample of 42 patients, who were selected under the inclusion and exclusion criteria; obtaining the data through the anonymized network of clinical records of the Dei Bambini Portoviejo Clinic; the results have been tabulated and exposed through the Microsoft Excel computer system. It was evidenced that 100% of the patients with disabilities presented dental caries regardless of economic status, due in greater relevance to diet, cleaning after each meal and annual visits to the dentist; the economic impact on patients with disabilities compared to the costs of dental treatment is negative, only 21% of patients accessed dental treatment.