Oral hygiene and gingival disease among children with structural heart disease at a tertiary hospital in North-Central Nigeria

Background: Poor oral hygiene and gingival disease are factors that increase risk of infective endocarditis in children with structural heart disease. The  objectives were to evaluate the oral hygiene status of children with structural heart disease and the prevalence of dental caries/ gingival disease among them. 
Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Subjects were children aged6 months to 14 years with structural heart disease. Relevant sociodemographic  and clinical data were collected. The Decayed, Missing Filled –Teeth (DMF-T) index and Simplified Oral Hygiene index-S (OHI-S) were used to evaluate for dental caries and oral hygiene respectively. 
Results: Forty-eight subjects were recruited. Median (IQR) age was 1.88 (0.50 – 6.75) years. Commonest structural heart diseases were ventricular septal  defects (19 subjects; 39.6%), rheumatic heart disease (6; 12.5%), and Tetralogy of Fallot (5; 10.4%). Prevalence of dental caries amongst subjects was 11.4%  (four of the 35). Six (12.5%) had gingival disease and one (2.9%) had poor oral hygiene. Thirty-two (91.4%) subjects had their mouth cleaned daily,  while only four (12.5%) of these had it cleaned at least twice a day. 
Conclusion: Dental caries and poor oral hygiene are common amongst children with structural heart disease.