When DMFT indexes were examined with regard
to sex, the mean DMFT was found to be higher
for females. This is consistent with literature,
which has typically found dental caries to exhibit a
higher prevalence among females than males.22-25
In one previous national population survey,
rates of caries among the disabled population were
found to be higher in comparison to the generalpopulation for all age groups studied.15 Not only
did children with disabilities tend to have more
decayed teeth when compared to children without
disabilities, they also had more missing teeth and
higher incidences of poor gingival health.15 However,
there are quite a number of studies examining
dmft and DMFT scores of disabled children,
and some authors report better dmft and DMFT
values among this group than among the general
population of children. Shaw et al26 reported
dmft and DMFT values of 1.36 and 1.85, respectively,
for children with disabilities; Gizani et al16
reported a mean DMFT value of 2.9; and Shyama
et al15 reported a mean DMFT of 4.5 for this group.
It is most likely that the most significant factor in
improving the oral health status of handicapped
children is the awareness of their families of importance
of oral hygiene habits.