Abstract
Objectives : This study of oral health problems was conducted to 311 students in Special Schools in order to inquire into the state of their oral health behaviors, to find out the main obstacles against dental services, to secure dental reasonable basis for oral health promotion. Methods : A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Special School of the 311 students in the area of the metropolitan Seoul. By means of Chi-squared test and Fisher's exact test, oral hygiene habits for each type of the subjects, the contents of dental care services, the prerequisites to improve oral health, were inquired. To evaluate the effects to the current oral health status of types of disability, 2-way ANOVA was practiced. Results : The handicapped with Visual impairment, mental retardation, multiplicity with disabilities, answered negatively in their own oral health status. 47.4% of the deaf can do brush for theirselves without the inconvenience, but in other types of disability they showed that they were helped by others. Subjects did not use the secondary oral hygiene necessaries because, except brain damage, almost of types of disability impeded the convenient use. 60 to 88.2 percent of the total respondents were the recent visitors to dental clinique within 1 year, and the most common motives of the visiting dentist, is a routine medical examination, their movements to the dentist in all types of disabilities, needed helps of others. Most of them received medical treatment at a private dentist, the handicapped preferred the private care and place(49.8%). Only in the case of the brain disorders, extremely much of the disabled answered that they were needed the preventive treatment, and the another cases of disability were largely needed the treatment of the decayed teeth. To improve the oral health of the people with disabilities, at the opening of the clinics and hospitals over a certain size, the mandatory medical facilities for the care of the disabled should be preceded and followed by the improvement of dental insurance system so as to reduce the burdens of the cost of dental care. Conclusions : The improvement of oral health policy for the disabled are needed inevitably: Development of secondary oral hygienic easy to use for the disabled, the building systems of medical dental hospital with the disabled facilities, by the improvement of the insurance system, the reduction of the burden of payments.