Oral Health Perceptions and Practices Among Visually Impaired People in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

Objective: this study aimed to understand the oral health perceptions and practices of visually impaired people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Materials and Methods: exploratory, descriptive questionnaire-based research, whose data were recorded in IBM SPSS and reported in simple frequencies. Results: 54.5% of the partially blind and 62% of the completely blind participants reported brushing their teeth more than twice a day and using toothbrush (partially blind: 100%; completely blind: 96.5%) rather than other oral hygiene aids. Visiting a dentist 6 to 12 months previously was reposted by 36.3% of the partially blind participants, with 81.8% using a private service, and 72.6% perceiving their oral health to be good or regular. Visiting a dentist up to 6 months previously was reported by 27.5% of the completely blind participants, who preferred a public service(55.1%) and perceived their oral health to be regular (51.7%). Conclusion: both groups recognized the absence of educational material designed specifically to help educate visually impaired people about oral health. There should be public policies specifically for this segment of the population that should not be restricted to the management of care but incorporate health education as an important tool for addressing the challenge of equipping individuals to become autonomous in their self-care