Many studies have indicated that hearing-impaired (HI) children have poor oral hygiene mainly
contributed by difficulties in communication. The objectives of the study were to assess the difficulties
experienced by HI children during dental visit and the effectiveness of “Oral Health Care for the HearingImpaired”
(OCHI) programme in improving the oral health knowledge and practice, and reducing the dental
plaque maturity scores among HI children. A community intervention study was conducted and training of trainers
(TOT) was done to train the teachers in delivering oral health education (OHE) and practices by using developed
booklet and video. The difficulties faced by the HI children during dental visit, and the oral health knowledge and
practice (OHKP) were assessed by face-to-face interview with HI children whilst the dental plaque maturity was
assessed using GC Tri Plaque ID Gel™ (TPID) during pre-intervention, post-intervention-1 and postintervention-2.
Data were analysed using SPSS version 22. Among the teachers, there was an increase in the
mean (SD) total knowledge and attitude score during post-TOT compared to pre-TOT, 46.1 (2.44) and 43.7
(4.01); (p
Hearing impairment is an unseen handicapped that lead to communication barriers which might impede knowledge
transfer. The aim of this study was to compare the oral health knowledge, practice and dental plaque maturity between
hearing-impaired (HI) and normal children. A cross sectional study was conducted among children aged 7-14 years old.
The HI children were recruited from a special school for the deaf while the normal children were from the primary and
secondary schools in Bachok, Kelantan. The oral health knowledge and practice was assessed by face to face interview
whilst the dental plaque maturity status was evaluated using GC Tri Plaque ID Gel™ (TPID). The data was analysed using
IBM SPSS version 22. HI children had poor oral health knowledge and oral health practice compared to normal children
(p<0.05). HI children had significantly more matured plaque compared to normal children with mean (SD) DPMS of 1.8
(0.57) and 1.3 (0.20), respectively (p<0.001). In conclusion, there were poor oral health knowledge, poor oral hygiene
practice and high plaque maturity among HI children.