Oral Health and Dental Care in Deaf and Hard of Hearing Population: A Scoping Review

Purpose: To compile the literature available about the oral health and dental care of the deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) population.
Materials and Methods: The study question of this scoping review was 'What are the main findings reported in the literature about oral health and dental care of the DHH population?' The following databases were included: Web of Science, LILACS, SciELO, MEDLINE, Scopus, EMBASE, GoogleScholar and Redalyc. Full-text articles published in peer-reviewed journals, in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, from the January 2000 to January 2018 were selected with qualitative and quantitative methods. All study designs were included in the review with the exception of letters to the editor and case reports.
Results: A total of fifty articles were selected for analysis. DHH population has poorer oral hygiene and a higher prevalence of caries than their non DHH peers. DHH also report significant struggles with oral health and dental access. Most dentists experienced difficulties communicating with their DHH patients.
Conclusions: This scoping review is the first known that centers on DHH oral health and their dental care. Efforts to develop accessible dental health programmes are needed to address apparent oral health inequities in the DHH population.