Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School-Aged Children with Cardiac Diseases: ICDAS and Microbiological Parameters

Objective: Prevalence of tooth decay among school-aged children especially with the medically compromised one makes it one of the major public health. Therefore, this study was directed to detect the prevalence of carious lesions among children and young adults with cardiac diseases with newly developed International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS). Subjects and methods: Egyptian children and young adults aged between 5-16 years were chosen for this study. A total of four hundred participants were selected according to previously designed criteria’s and then divided into the control healthy group and cardiac disease group. Results: The results of the ICDAS assessment exhibited a statistically higher caries prevalence among participants with cardiac diseases with statistically higher dentine defects. However, the results of the microbiological analysis showed a statistically significant increase in the Streptococcus mutants and Lactobacilli bacterial count in subjects with cardiac diseases. Conclusion: school-aged children with cardiac diseases showed a higher prevalence in tooth decay and Streptococcus mutants and Lactobacilli count when compared to the control group.