Prevention of hard dental tissue diseases and periodontal diseases in children is one of the urgent issues of pediatric dentistry. This is especially true for the category of children with psychoneurological pathology. Due to the high prevalence of dental diseases, decreased immunity, and sometimes difficult assess to dental care for children with mental retardation, dental disease prevention is the most effective measure to maintain the normal functioning of the dentofacial apparatus. The results obtained by examining the children with oligophrenia allowed us to work up an algorithm for therapeutic and preventive measures aimed at preventing the development of oral tissue diseases in these children. The algorithm included measures for primary and secondary prevention of periodontal diseases. To assess the efficacy of the algorithm, the study involved a group of 55 mentally impaired children. The control group consisted of 50 children with oligophrenia, who were treated by traditional methods.
Taking into account the burdened mental status of the children when developing the individual hygiene regimens, a motivational approach was worked out in co-operation with a psychiatrist and a paediatrician. Evaluation of treatment outcomes in the groups was performed in 1 month after the completion of the full course of treatment and prevention and in long-term intervals, in 6 and 12 months. Clinical evaluation of treatment efficacy was performed according to the following criteria: "normalization", "improvement", "progression". In one month following the regimen proposed, the "normalization" of the affected tissues was diagnosed in 40 children of the main group (72,73 ± 6,06%), p <0,01. The "improvement" of periodontal tissue condition was observed in 10 children (18.18 ± 5.25%), p <0.05. Only 5 children in the main group (9.09 ± 3.91%) failed to demonstrate any positive changes.
In 6 months following the application of the treatment and prevention algorithm, the children of the main group demonstrate the "normalization" of periodontal tissue in 65,45 ± 6,47% of cases, while in the children of the control group this indicator was twice lower, 32,00 ± 6.66%, p <0.01. The "improvements" were found in 21.82 ± 5.62% of the children in the main group and in 14.00 ± 4.96% of the children in the control group, p <0.05. No effect of treatment and progression of inflammatory process were observed in 7 children of the main group that was in 4.2 times less than in children of the control group. In long-term follow-up, in 1 year, 61.82 ± 6.61% of children with oligophrenia, who received the treatment and prophylactic measures proposed demonstrated the "normalization" of the periodontal tissue health. In the children treated with standard methods, this indicator was 2.2 times lower (28.00 ± 6.41%), p <0.01. The "improvement" of periodontal condition was recorded in 27.27 ± 6.06% of children in the main group versus 10.00 ± 4.28% of the children in the control group, p <0.01. Treatment for 10.91 ± 4.24% of the children of the main group failed to be effective, but for the children of the control group this indicator was in 5.7 times higher during the long-term observation.
The data obtained indicate the lack of effectiveness of standard methods of treatment for chronic catarrhal gingivitis and confirm the high efficiency of the developed algorithm for treatment and prevention of dental diseases in children with oligophrenia.
The authors of this article confirm that the research and publication of the results were not associated with any conflicts regarding commercial or financial relations, relations with organizations and/or individuals who may have been related to the study, and interrelations of co-authors of the article.
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