Dental care for children and young people who have a hearing impairment

Aim The aim was to determine whether there are indications that hearing-impaired children experience difficulties in accessing dental care and/or in receiving dental treat ment. Method The study was carried out by means of a questionnaire. Parents of 84 children contacted through the National Deaf Children's Society returned completed questionnaires. Results Eighty-two children (98%) had visited a dentist. Nearly two-thirds (63%) were reported to have at least one problem in communication while receiving dental care, this increased significantly as the severity of the hearing impairment increased. Fifty-nine children (70%) reported having, at least one problem in communication at the doctors'. Fifty-two (62%) reported that the dentist had worn a mask while communicating with the child and 48 (57%) that there had been background noise in the surgery during appointments. Conclusions Removing masks while talking, reducing background noise and learning to use simple signs may improve communication with hearing-impaired children.