Features of the Prevalence of Dental Morbidity in Children with Pathology of the Gastrointestinal Tract

Diseases of the digestive system are one of the most common pathological conditions in children and quite often accompanied by lesions of the dentition. Symptom complex deviations from the normal condition of the oral cavity organs may indicate about chronic process in the gastrointestinal tract. Clinical condition of the oral cavity (red rim lip, oral mucosa, tongue, periodontal tissues, and hard tooth tissues) and its hygienic condition have been studied in children suffering from diseases of digestive apparatus (chronic gastroduodenitis, chronic colitis, ulcerative colitis) and in almost healthy children. The comparative analysis of the rates of dental status of patients from the abovementioned groups and with similar rates of almost healthy children has been carried out. Finding of the analysis has revealed some features of the dental status in children with gastrointestinal tract disorders. Oral lesions have been detected in children with digestive organs pathology, as compared with children without such pathology, indicating about the high prevalence of diseases of the red rim of the lips. It has been found that occurrence of joint symptoms, i.e., chronic cracks on the red rim of the lips and angular cheilitis is the specific feature of the cheilitis clinical picture in children, indicating about more severity of lesions of the lip tissues in this category of patients. Swelling and icteritiousness of oral musoca is specific for gastrointestinal tract disorders in children. The analysis of resulting data of clinical examination as well as index evaluation shows that, in children with various gastrointestinal tract disorders, the greater the prevalence of periodontal disease is the higher the intensity of the inflammatory response, pronouncedness of the clinical manifestations and tendency for the inflammatory process chronicalization. Systemic dental hypoplasia was observed more frequently (from 15.4% to 33.3%) in children with gastrointestinal tract disorders than in almost healthy (0%) ones. In all groups of examined children with GI pathology the value of rate of prevalence of dental caries was similar and accounted for 100%; the prevalence of dental caries in group of almost healthy children accounted for 81,25%. High intensity of dental caries is associated with the condition of the digestive organs and is the highest in the group of children with ulcerative colitis. Regular check up in the dentist's office is crucial for timely detection of children in children with gastrointestinal tract disorders.