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OBJECTIVE: This study aims to evaluate the awareness level of the individuals with hearing and speech impairments (deaf and dumb individuals), in relation to their oral health and dental treatment needs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The approach of stratified randomization method of sampling was used for the selection of participants. About 240 people with hearing and speech impairments (deaf and dumb) were selected from four cities of Saudi Arabia, which includes AlKharj, Riyadh, Dammam and Abha. A questionnaire of two sections was distributed among the participants for collecting data. A simple descriptive analysis was done, and the data were expressed in terms of frequencies and percentages. Microsoft Excel has been used for compilation of data and execution of graphs. Moreover, the questionnaire data were subject to SPSS data analysis (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0, Armonk, IBM Corp. NY). RESULTS: Most of the participants were not aware of the importance of oral health. Majority of the participants described that they did not visit qualified dentists in the past and many of them did not know the right way of doing tooth brushing. Hence, deaf and dumb individuals lack basic knowledge about oral health and dental treatment needs. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that the awareness level of oral health and dental treatment needs is low among individuals with hearing and speech impairments (deaf and dumb) in Saudi Arabia.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Single cell gel electrophoresis (SCGE) assay also known as comet assay is a rapid and highly sensitive fluorescent molecular technique for detecting various forms of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage at individual cellular level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study was done to detect the extent of DNA damage in oral leukoplakia (OL) and compare with normal individuals. The sample population was obtained from an outpatient clinic of a tertiary teaching dental institute. A total of 36 consecutive patients with leukoplakia and 10 healthy normal volunteers were recruited for the study and assessed for the extent of DNA damage using SCGE following clinical diagnosis and histological grading. Peripheral blood was obtained by venipuncture and SCGE assay was performed. Mean comet tail length was recorded and analyzed statistically to compare the extent of damage in each group. RESULTS: The mean comet tail length seen in leukoplakia patients with moderate to severe dysplasia was 1.25 ± 0.14 mm while for the control subjects, it was 0.31 ± 0.10 mm. The difference was statistically significant (p = 0.000). On comparing within the grades of leukoplakia, a progressive trend of increasing tail length was observed with increasing grades of dysplasia. CONCLUSION: Deoxyribonucleic acid damage as measured by SCGE is seen in leukoplakia. A stepwise increase in DNA damage levels from healthy controls, through patients with non-dysplastic epithelium to varying grades of dysplasia has been observed indicating the extent of DNA damage in this high risk group.