Tahmassebi J F, Curzon M E J
Division of Child Dental Health, Leeds Dental Institute, Clarendon Way, Leeds, UK.
Dev Med Child Neurol. 2003 Sep;45(9):613-7. doi: 10.1017/s0012162203001117.
Prevalence of drooling in children with cerebral palsy (CP) and its severity across dental age (i.e. children with primary, mixed, and permanent dentitions) was investigated. One hundred and sixty children and adolescents (91 males, 69 females; mean age 10 years 10 months, SD 4 years 2 months; range 4 to 18 years) with CP who attended special schools were involved in this study. Sixty eight per cent of participants had spastic CP with the majority (45%) diagnosed as having quadriplegia. Presence or absence of drooling was determined by direct observation of the participants. Other data, such as age, sex, learning disability, and type of CP were collected using questionnaires. Results showed 93 of 160 children (58%) with CP had a drooling condition and of these 53 (33%) had severe drooling. It was found that the degree of drooling decreased as the child's dental age increased. Prevalence of drooling in children with primary dentition was found to be 75% as compared with 43% of those with permanent dentition, although this difference was not statistically significant. It was concluded that any invasive treatment to reduce drooling should, perhaps, be postponed until the child's oromusculature has matured.
对脑瘫（CP）患儿流口水的患病率及其在不同牙龄阶段（即乳牙期、混合牙列期和恒牙期儿童）的严重程度进行了调查。160名患有脑瘫的儿童和青少年（91名男性，69名女性；平均年龄10岁10个月，标准差4岁2个月；年龄范围4至18岁）参与了这项研究，他们均就读于特殊学校。68%的参与者患有痉挛型脑瘫，其中大多数（45%）被诊断为四肢瘫。通过直接观察参与者来确定是否流口水。使用问卷收集其他数据，如年龄、性别、学习障碍和脑瘫类型。结果显示，160名脑瘫儿童中有93名（58%）存在流口水情况，其中53名（33%）流口水严重。研究发现，随着儿童牙龄的增加，流口水程度降低。乳牙期儿童流口水的患病率为75%，恒牙期儿童为43%，尽管这一差异无统计学意义。研究得出结论，或许任何减少流口水的侵入性治疗都应推迟到儿童口腔肌肉组织成熟之后。
