Oral health status of athletes with an intellectual disability competing in the Special Olympics GB National Games 2017

Background: The aim of this paper is to describe the oral health status of athletes with intellectual disabilities competing in the Special Olympics, GB National Games, held in Sheffield in August 2017.

Methods and materials: A convenience sample of athletes who participated in the Special Olympics Special Smiles screening programme was used. All data was recorded on validated Healthy Athletes screening forms.

Results: Of the 692 athletes that participated, 14% had untreated decay, 51.9% had at least one filling and 28.6% had signs of gingivitis. Furthermore, 6.2% reported pain from their mouth and 2.7% were found to require urgent treatment. Overall, 90.3% reported to clean their mouths at least once per day and 0.7% were found to be edentulous.

Discussion The findings from this screening highlighted lower rates of decay, pain and urgent treatment need in comparison to Special Olympic screenings worldwide.

Conclusion: The oral health of athletes competing in the GB National Games 2017 was better than noted at most Special Olympic events throughout the world. There is little data published on the oral health of individuals with learning disabilities in the UK. These results provide valuable baseline data to monitor and review the oral health of Special Olympic athletes within Great Britain.