Dental Hygiene and Down Syndrome

DENTAL HEALTH CARE FOR DOWN SYNDROME PATIENTS

Introduction

Down syndrome is a chromosomal aberration which leads from mild to severe learning disabilities . Physical features of people diagnosed with Down syndrome include : small skull , extra folds of skin under the eyes flattened nose bridge , and low muscle tone throughout the body (Mattheis , 2007

Cases of Down syndrome are reported to be due to translocation and mosaicism . Translocation takes place when part of chromosome 21 breaks off during cell division and joins to the other chromosome (Leshin 2003 . Mosaicism occurs when there is

a nondisjunction in chromosome number 21 . Down syndrome occurs in about 1 out of every 800 births worldwide . In the United there are more than 350 ,000 people diagnosed with this condition (NDDS , 2008 . The number of Down syndrome births is relatively low for 18-year-old mothers - about 1 in 2 ,100 births . In the later childbearing years the risk increases significantly - from 1 in 1 ,000 births for 30-year-old women to 1 in 100 births for 40-year-old women (Mattheis , 2007

Many diseases have been known to be associated with Down syndrome . Such disease includes : cardiac diss , infectious diseases , hypotonia hearing loss , and such periondontal diseases . In addition , mild or moderate mental retardation is clearly manifested . Delopmental delays such as in speech and language and many oral health problems also arises (Pilcher , 1998

The demand for dental care in persons with Down syndrome is increasing with such inclusive trends like Down syndrome patients who are able to function normally in the mainstream society . According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial

Research (2007 ) most people with mild or moderate Down syndrome can be successfully treated in the general practice setting

Nanette , a neighbor of mine is already 25 years old . Her dad already passed away already and her mother Vicky is the only family she had ever since . Ms . Nanette is one of those who has been diagnose with Down syndrome . The severity of Nanette 's condition has becoming more and more serious as she grows old . Before she turned 25 , she is actively interacting with her playmates . However today a lot of findings have been diagnosed by her doctor , she became diabetic and started to become bed ridden . Also , it was found out that she has difficulties with her dental condition . When I ask her what she 's complaining about , she said she had difficulties in eating because some of her teeth are already missing . The food she has to eat has to be in small bits so that she could digest it better

As for Nanette 's personal oral care of hygiene , she can hardly brush her teeth by herself . And she needs Vicky to assist her . Vicky can only brush Nanette 's teeth twice a day for she is so busy working outside The only favor that she asked to her neighbor was to look after Nanette in her room and to feed her . However Vicky 's neighbors are not aware that Nanette 's teeth need...