Oral hygiene orientation and caries experience for cerebral palsy patients using oral medication

Abstract

The presence of damage associated with cerebral palsy (CP) often requires the long-term continuous use of prescription drugs. Among the adverse side effects of these drugs are decreased salivary flow and increased risk for caries. Objective: To determine whether those responsible for CP patients received orientation regarding the necessity of oral hygiene after the administration of drugs of continuous oral use and the caries experience in patients with CP. Method: Participating in this study were 205 children with medical diagnosis of CP, of both genders, aged 0-12 years (6.6 ± 2.9) attending a preventive program in dentistry in a reference institution of rehabilitation in São Paulo-SP. The data regarding gender, movement disorder and clinical types of CP were collected from medical records. In an interview format, the caregivers reported whether there was use of any continuous medicine. They were asked what form it took, whether the caregivers had received prior guidance on the importance of oral hygiene after the use of medicines, who performed the oral child’s hygiene, and how often it was done. Their caries experience was recorded based on whether a given tooth was decayed (D, d) missing (M, m) or filled (F, f) (DMFT). The sample was divided into two groups according to whether they used continuous drugs (group 1: G1) or did not (group 2: G2). The Chi-square test and Student’s t test were used, with the level of significance set up at 5%. Results: G1 (n = 110) and G2 (n = 95) were similar in terms of gender (p = 0.343) and age (p = 0.514). However, they differed significantly in relation to the clinical pattern, with G1 presenting significantly higher percentages of patients with tetraparesis (p < 0.001). Considering only the G1, it was observed that the subgroup that used medicine in oral solution form (solution, n = 65) differed significantly from that using tablets (tablets, n = 45) in relation to their previous orientation for hygiene oral (p = 0.013), in that the solution subgroup had been better oriented. With regard to oral hygiene, the solution subgroup had significantly higher percentages (p = 0.044) of children requiring supervision and completion of the oral hygiene when compared to the tablet group. The comparison of caries experience between G1 and G2 showed that the G1 had significantly higher values for their DMF index (p = 0.048), and fewer caries-free patients (p = 0.016) when compared to G2. Conclusion: Although those responsible for the patients receiving medication in the form of oral solution were better oriented, these patients presented higher values of caries experience.