Child and Maternal Oral Healthcare: An Assessment of the Knowledge of Nigerian and Ghanaian Nurses

Objective: To ascertain and compare knowledge of child and maternal oral healthcare amongst a group of Nurses and Midwives in Ghana and Nigeria.Design: A cross-sectional survey.Setting: Health institutions in Cape Coast, Ghana and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.Subjects: One hundred and sixty Nurses and Midwives (80 Ghanaians and 80 Nigerians).Results: They had an age range of 21 – 65 years and a mean age of 37.8 (SD ± 9.6) years. Majority of the Nurses in both countries indicated that women should brush their teeth with a toothbrush and toothpaste (92.1%), whilst the children should use salt and cotton wool twice daily. Although more of the Ghanaian Nurses (98.8%) considered routine dental visits to be important than the Nigerian population (80%), only 3.8% of the Ghanaian Nurses against 33.8% of the Nigerians indicated there was a connection between oral disease and delivery status. Opinions differed significantly as to the reason for the first dental visit with 65.4% of the Nigerian Nurses indicating this should be when the child has toothache whereas 51.9% of Ghanaian Nurses believed it is when the first tooth erupts. However,four to six years was the common choice for when selfbrushing should start in both countries.Conclusion: The knowledge of this group of Nurses and Midwives on maternal and child oral healthcare was insufficient. The Ghanaian Nurses had a better knowledge of preventive dental care than their Nigerian counterparts

Oral health status of pregnant women attending the ante-natal clinic of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital

Background: Maintaining good oral hygiene is very important to preventing many oral diseases.  Aim: To assess the oral health status of women attending ante-natal clinics at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital.Methods: A cross-sectional study of attendees  at the ante-natal clinic of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital. Consecutive patients  who gave their consent were recruited. Self-administered questionnaire  was employed. Oral examination was conducted by calibrated examiners and the DMFT and SOHI scores were recorded. The data generated were analyzed using SPSS for window, version 17.0.Results: A total of 188 patients were involved in this study. Their  age range was 20-42years (mean - 29.8±4.4 years) and  gestational age varied from 6-40 weeks. Almost two third (63.8%) of the subjects were in the third trimester. The DMFT scores of the patients varied from 0-8 (mean-  0.66±1.4). Higher proportion of patients with secondary and tertiary education had high DMFT scores which increased with gestational age of the patients. These  were not statistically significant (p values = 0.946 and 0.361 respectively). The SOHI scores of the patients varied from 0-5.9 ( mean value - 2.18±1.06). Higher proportion of patients with poor oral hygiene (2.0 and above) had primary education and was statistically significant (p value = 0.011). Also, higher proportion of patients with high SOHI score was seen with increase in gestational age (p value = 0.975).Conclusion: The caries experience and the oral hygiene status of the patients appear to get worse as the pregnancy progresses.Keywords: Oral Hygiene, DMFT, SOHI, Pregnant wome

Pattern of cleft lip and palate deformities and associated anomalies in a selected Nigerian population

Background: Cleft Lip and / or Palate (CL/P) is one of the major human orofacial congenital malformations seen in live births. Port Harcourt is a city in the South- South region of Nigeria for which there is a dearth of data on these deformities. The aim of this paper is to assess the pattern of CL/P deformities and associated anomalies in an understudied Nigerian population. Methodology: This is an observational study of the pattern, dental and occlusal features, skeletal deformities, and hearing as well as speech problems associated with CL/P. The subjects were recruited from among the beneficiaries of a corrective surgical outreach at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital in April 2010. Data collection was by oral interview and clinical examination. The information elicited was recorded in a structured questionnaire prior to the corrective surgery. Descriptive analysis of data was performed using SPSS version 17. Results: A total number of 36 subjects were studied, including 19 males and 17 females. Age range was 0.21-28 years, with a mean of 8.8 (8.2) years. Eight (22.6%) subjects were below age one year. Twenty five percent had Cleft Lip (CL) 33.3% had Cleft Palate (CP), and 41.7% had Cleft lip and palate. Cleft palate was more common in females. Dental/occlusal anomalies found in subjects were notably, anomalies of number structure and position. Speech and hearing defects were observed in 61.1% and 19.4% of the subjects respectively. Conclusion: The relative prevalence of different cleft patterns complies with previous reports in Nigeria. Also, different reported types of dental and occlusal anomalies were noted, tooth rotations being the commonest. Late presentation for surgical correction was observed in this population.Key words: Cleft lip and palate, dental and occlusal anomalies, congenital malformation

Unerupted maxillary central incisors: a case report and review of the literature

Missing or unerupted central incisors in a child can have a major impact on oro-facial aesthetics. This may be a source of great psychological concern to child and parents by virtue of its prominent anterior location. Non-eruption could be due to hereditary and local environmental factors. Surgical and/or orthodontic intervention is often required in the management of the condition especially after six months since the eruption of the contra lateral tooth. In this report, a nine year old boy presented with unerupted maxillary right central and lateral incisors. The management involved clinical, radiographic and orthodontic assessment. A diagnosis of hyperplastic gingivae preventing eruption of the incisors was made. Removal of the obstruction and exposure of the crowns of the teeth resulted in their spontaneous eruption and subsequent alignment in the maxillary arch. It is concluded that teeth which have not erupted six months after their normal eruption time be examined radiographically. Early removal of causative factors leads to better prognosis This mixed dentition anomaly of tooth eruption was conservatively managed by paedodontists Keywords: Unerupted maxillary incisors, managementNigerian Dental Journal Vol. 16 (1) 2008: pp. 26-3

The spectrum of pulpal diseases and therapies in children in a tertiary centre in Nigeria

No Abstract

Managing oral bleeding in children with hereditary bleeding disorders: case series and a review of literature

Bleeding disorders are mostly of genetic or hereditary origin in children. Dental consultations sought by patients with bleeding disorders may follow trauma, dental infections or may be insidious. The present report is on five cases managed at the Paedodontic unit of the Child Dental Health Clinic of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. The report gives a review of some of the challenges faced in the dental management of patients with hereditary bleeding disorders and the treatment options for the different oral presentations. Four of these patients had haemophilia A and the other had von Williebrand disease. All the patients presented with bleeding gingivae secondary to either physiologic processes of eruption, infective or traumatic dental conditions. The management of the patients was comprehensive with a multidisciplinary approach. The prevention of traumatic and infective dental conditions is an important part of oral health care in individuals with hereditary bleeding disorders. This would reduce the need for treatment and should reduce the number of emergency visits.Key words: Haemophilia, von Willebrand disease, gingival bleeding, dental managemen