Abstract

CERICATO, Graziela Oro  and  LAMHA, Ana Paula Soares Fernandes. Oral health attitudes of visually impaired people in collective health context. RFO UPF [online]. 2012, vol.17, n.2, pp. 137-144. ISSN 1413-4012.

The term visual impairment includes the cases of total blindness and low vision. In spite of the dentistry incontestable scientific-technician advance in the last years, it has not been enough to solve the oral problems. Objective: considering the shortage of special materials geared toward this public, this work aims to evaluate the popular knowledge, the perception and the daily attitudes in oral health of visual impairment carriers, aiming to provide information for future strategies in oral health education for this population. Methods: a pre-tested questionnaire was applied in 48 visually impaired, envolving three thematical areas: popular knowledge, perception and everyday practices in impairment carriers' oral health. Results: it was verified that 54% of the study participants were carriers of total blindness and 46% of subnormal vision. The average age of participants was 31.6 years. Regarding the search for oral health, there was an attribution about self-care. The studied population has little knowledge regarding fluoride and the perception of bacterial plaque is reported mainly by the presence of halitosis. Conclusions: the results point to the necessity to establish an education program in oral health in this population, to make possible the process of their qualification and motivation in order to help on the health promotion practices.

Keywords : Oral health.; Person.; Preventive dentistry.; Visually impaired..