Asthma as a reason for poor oral health

Abstract

Asthma is a common respiratory disease. The aim of the study is to present the oral health in children with asthma. Subjects of the study were 31 children aged 4-14, who have been suffering from asthma for at least one year and 31 healthy children of the same age as controls. The oral sta- tus was assessed according to the International Caries De- tection and Assessment System (ICDAS) criteria by three calibrated dentists. Inquiry was used for the evaluation of the hygiene habits of the children. А questionnaire about the frequency and duration of tooth brushing and the use of dental floss of every child was filled in by the parents. The relative share of the caries-free children suffering from asthma was 9.68% and in the control group - 32.26%. The largest was the relative share of the children with asthma who brushed their teeth once per day - 61.29%, followed by those who brushed their teeth 2 times a day - 22.58%, and those who brushed less frequently than that - 16.13%. In the control group, these trends were comparable. In both groups the majority of children brushed their teeth for less than 1 min. In the two test groups, 6.45% of the children used dental floss. The results show a higher carious activ- ity in children with asthma, but similar oral hygiene habits in the two groups of examined children. It means that the higher risk of caries is related to the medical treatment or the disease itself, or both.