DENTAL CONSIDERATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH DOWN SYNDROME
VINEET NAIR *
Department of Periodontology, North Bengal Dental College and Hospital, Darjeeling, India
KRISHNA PADA DAS
Department of Dentistry, National Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
SUBHASIS DAS
Department of Conservative Dentistry, Burdwan Dental College and Hospital, Burdwan-713101, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Approximately one out of every 600-1,000 births results in an extra chromosome of the twenty first group called Trisomy 21 or Down syndrome. Usually most of the dental treatment for persons with Down syndrome can be carried out in a general dental office with relatively minor adaptations. In undergraduate dental training there is usually little or no exposure to treating such patients and the general practitioners may be hesitant to treat these patients with confidence. This paper attempted to summarise the unique characteristics associated with Down syndrome that influence the dental care and treatment of this population. Several search engines were searched for articles relating to this topic with special reference to PUBMED indexed journals over the last 10 years.
Keywords: Autosomal, chromosome, mental impairment, syndrome, trisomy 21