Abstract
The purpose of this study was to understand the present situation of children with systemic diseases in a university pediatric dentistry clinic. Characteristics of the patients referred with systemic diseases who visited the Pediatric Dentistry Clinic of Hokkaido University Hospital for the first time during a seven-year period, from January 2000 to December 2006, were investigated. The following results were obtained:
1. In each year of the survey period, about 10% of the patients visiting our clinic for the first time were patients referred with systemic diseases. The ages of these patients were distributed most commonly between 1-3 years of age.
2. Sixty seven point four percent of the patients with systemic diseases visiting our clinic for the first time were referred by the Medical Clinical Division of Hokkaido University Hospital.
3. The largest percentage of patients involved the patients with blood disease (23.0%), and the next the patients with heart disease (20.4%).
4. The def and DMF numbers showed a higher score than that of the average Japanese children surveyed by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
5. The ratio of the patients with untreated dental caries was 36.5%.
6. There was no difference between before and after the dental hospital merged with the medical hospital.
These results show that the patients with systemic diseases did not have a good oral condition. It was therefore suggested that we must continue appropriate oral treatment and management with enough understanding of the systemic diseases and the general condition of the patients through close communication with the medical doctors.
