Tobacco use and oral health of inmates in a Nigerian prison

Objectives: To determine the effect of tobacco use on oral health status of inmates of a federal prison in Enugu, Nigeria.Materials and Methods: The study involved 230 inmates of the Nigerian Prison in Enugu. An interviewer‑administered questionnaire was used to collect data on the demographic characteristics of the participants, oral hygiene methods, and smoking habits. An intra‑oral examination to determine their oral health status was done using simplified oral hygiene index (OHI‑S) for the oral hygiene status, the modified decayed missing and filled teeth (DMFT) index for caries status, and community periodontal index of treatment needs (CPITN) for the periodontal needs. Statistical Package for Social Sciences software, version 15 was used to analyze data.Results: One hundred and twenty participants (52.2%) were current smokers. Mean DMFT of smokers and nonsmokers were 2.38 ± 0.71 and 2.25 ± 0.83 respectively (P = 0.508) while mean Community Periodontal Index (CPI) scores of smokers and nonsmokers were 4.71 ± 1.26 and 2.27 ± 0.86, respectively (P = 0.276). Oral soft tissue lesions such as mucosal burn, oral leukoplakia‑like lesions were found mainly in the tobacco users.Conclusion: Tobacco use had a negative effect on the oral health of the participants as smokers had worse oral health profile than non‑smokers. They may benefit from counseling programs with the view to educate them on the effect of tobacco use on oral health and by extension, the general health. The full implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty in Nigeria could help in curtailing these unwanted consequences of tobacco use.Keywords: Oral health promotion, prisoners, periodontal health, tobacco useNigerian Journal of Clinical Practice • Oct-Dec 2013 • Vol 16 • Issue

Assessing Health Workers Knowledge on the Determinants of Health: A Study in Enugu Nigeria

Background: Different social economic and personal factors have been touted as determining a person's health. This encompasses a person's living environment, economic status, genetic makeup, physical attributes and not just access to health services. It is important that health workers recognize that a person's socio-economic environment can have an adverse effect on the health status of the individual so as to capture this aspect in their choice of intervention. Methods: The study was carried out in two tertiary institutions in Enugu state selected purposively because they housed a dental clinic. It was a descriptive cross sectional study consisting of 87 participants which represented all the dental staff available during the study period. The participants were interviewed with a structured questionnaire used to elicit the knowledge of health workers on health determinants. Results: When individual factors were considered, a greater percentage of health workers, believed that safe drinking water (98.9%), where a person lives (96.6%) and a balanced diet, affect health more than availability of health services (59.8%) or the ability of the health care system to meet the needs of the people (55.2%). However when ranking the magnitude of the contribution of the various determinants of health the majority (37.9%) considered a good health care system the most important contributory factor to determining health of a community while social environment (14.9%) was the least. Conclusion: The ranking of good healthcare system over social environment points to the emphasis being laid on curative instead of preventive management of diseases, which have been entrenched in our health workers. Considerations should therefore be made for public health institutions to dwell more on health promotion and education activities to educate both health personnel and individuals on the importance of the social determinants on health. Keywords: Determinants of Health, Health worker

Attendance Pattern amongst Patients at the Dental Clinic of the University of Nigeria

Objective: Dental clinic attendance is one of the indicators of health behaviour which will ultimately impact on the oral health. This study aimed at determining the patients' attendance pattern and the reasons for attendance at the Dental clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu. Methods: A retrospective study was done using the record book of the Oral Diagnosis unit of the Dental clinic in UNTH. Data on patients' age, gender, presenting complaint(s) at first visit were obtained from these books. Patients with incomplete records were omitted. The data were analysed statistically using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 15); frequencies of all relevant variables were generated and Chi-square test was used to compare categorical variables at p < 0.05. Results: Data of 1663 patients with mean age of 33.2 ± 18 years were obtained. Six hundred and eighty six (41.3%) were males while 977 (58.7%) were females; a statistically significant difference was found in the quarterly attendances of males and females (p< 0.05). The 20-29 and the 0-9 years age groups had 36.1% and 6.5% records respectively. Eight hundred and twenty five (49.2%) visited clinic because of pain, 7.6% for swellings in the mouth and 5.7%  were without symptom but attended for routine check ups cum professional tooth cleaning. Conclusion: Asymptomatic dental clinic attendance was not common in this report; attendances were mostly prompted by pain. More females than males attended clinic and the second quarter of the year witnessed the highest turn out of patients. Keywords: dental attendance, oral health, patient's complaint

Utilization of dental services among secondary school students in Lagos, Nigeria

Objective: This study was carried out to determine the prevalence of dental visits among secondary school students in Lagos State and to identify factors influencing the use of these services. Materials and Method: The study was a cross- sectional one comprising of secondary school students aged 10-19 years in Lagos State. They were selected by a multistage sampling method from 4 secondary schools in 2 (1 Urban and 1 Rural) Local Government Areas of the state. After obtaining an informed consent, a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire was filled after by each student. Data were collected on their demographic characteristics, visit(s) to the dentist in the previous 12 months, reasons for these dental visits, factors preventing subsequent dental visit and barriers to visiting the dentist for those who made no previous visit. The data collected were analyzed with an SPSS version 11.5 using Chi square statistics to test for association and differences. Results: Five hundred and two students aged 10-19 years (mean 14.1 ± 0.22) participated in the study. The students had a dental visit prevalence of 14.9% in the previous 12 months, with 69.3% of the visits prompted by pain. The dental visit prevalence varied significantly with age (p = 0.019), being higher (18.1%) in the younger age group (10-14 years) than 10.5% in the older age group (15-19 years). Reasons for no previous visits ranged from “No dental problem” to “fear of the dentist. Eighteen out of the 75 who made previous dental visits were dissatisfied with the treatment received hence refused to visit again. Conclusion: The level of utilization of dental services was very low and the standard measure of one visit per year to the dentist was not met. There is need for a “School oral health program” which will promote oral health awareness and encourage routine dental checkups among these students. Keywords: Dental services, utilization, students, NigeriaNigerian Dental Journal Vol. 15 (2) 2007: pp. 87-9

Oral Health Problems And Causes Of Tooth Loss At The University Of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu-Nigeria

Context Several oral diseases and conditions are associated with tooth loss. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of oral health problems seen at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in one year with the view to highlighting causes of tooth loss in this environment. Methods This study utilised data from the Record book of the Oral Diagnosis unit of the Dental clinic in UNTH, Enugu. Records of patients seen from January to December 2008 with complete information were included in the study. Data obtained were patient's age, gender, provisional diagnosis, teeth lost and reasons for the loss. The data were computer- analysed; Chi square statistics was used to test for association and differences. Values were considered significant when p-value was equal to or less than 0.05. Results A total of 1663 entries were made; 686 (41.3%) were males and 977 (58.7%) females. On the whole, 110 (6.6%) had traumatic injuries, 70 (4.2%) had malocclusion while 583 (35.1%) had periodontal disease. Periodontal disease, pulpitis and dental caries were not only the most common oral health problems encountered but also the major causes of tooth loss. Conclusion The major causes of tooth loss in our study were periodontal disease and dental caries and its sequelae. Since these two diseases are preventable, existing measures to check them should be more aggressively pursued. Also, recruitment of manpower to manage the different conditions would be very timely for greater retention of teeth despite an aging society.Key words: Oral health; Tooth loss; UNTH; Enug

Awareness and knowledge of oral cancer amongst dental therapists in Nigeria: A pilot study

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