Background: Pediatric dentists face difficulties in treating tooth decay of children with difficulty in opening the mouth. This is especially true, as the main disease is accompanied by such symptoms as arthritis, osteoarthritis, myositis, myalgia, sclerosis, and oral atrophy.
Aim: The aim was to increase the level of treatment of fissure tooth decay for children with rheumatic diseases, using the silicone key method (SKM).
Materials and methods: A dental examination of 82 children was carried out, with diagnoses: systemic lupus erythematosus, juvenile systemic scleroderma, juvenile dermatomyositis, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Evaluation of the intensity of caries using indices: decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT)(average). Assessment and measurement of the degree of mouth opening (MMO) by Sh. M. Batashvili. The SKM was used to treat fissure tooth decay.
Results: During the dental examination of the oral cavity of all children with RD, multiple caries lesions were found. In the first age group of index indicators (DMFT) (on average) - 4.88, in the second age group DMFT (on average) - 7.58 - these values corresponded to high scores for the degree of dental caries, which requires frequent appointment to the dentist. Oral hygiene of children with difficult opening of the mouth is unsatisfactory, which leads to a rapid increase of caries. Restriction of moth opening <4 mm was found in 57 children with RD (69, 51%) that made it difficult to treat caries.
Conclusion: Using SKM will improve the quality of caries treatment and provide a stable result of treatment in patients with difficulty opening the mouth in severe somatic pathologies.
Keywords: Dental caries; direct restoration; maximum mouth opening; pediatric dentistry; rheumatic diseases.
Copyright: © 2022 Contemporary Clinical Dentistry.