부산대학교 도서관

The aim of this study was to examine a guideline of correspondence for extraction of the third molar on disabled patients. 63 patients (41 males and 22 females) attending the Pediatric Dental Clinic of Kagoshima University Dental Hospital participated in this study. The subject teeth were 169. The principal handicaps of these subjects were autistic developmental disorder and mentally retardation. Themes of the examination were details until extraction, status of oral health behavior until extraction, and considerations for their handicap associated with extraction. The results in this study indicated that the threshold for decision of extraction on the disabled patients is lower than healthy patients through a difficult situation of dental health care. If caregivers wish extraction of a third molar by reason of uneasiness of maintenance for satisfactory oral hygiene, a dentist should choose preventive extraction. We suggest the continuous periodic dental health care from infancy as the preventive measure to raise the threshold for decision of extraction. Because of this we thought that the continuous periodic dental health care is useful for the instruction of getting into the habit of plaque control on the disabled patients.