Effect of Social Class on the Prevalence and Severity of Periodontal Disease

Objectives: This study is aimed at assessing the influence of socio-economic status on the severity of periodontal disease.Materials and Methods: A one year retrospective study of 298 patients whohad been treated at the periodontics clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan was conducted. Case file records were reviewed and information on patients’ bio-data, occupation and periodontal health status as indicated by the plaque and gingival indices were retrieved. The patients were categorized into various socio-economic classes, utilizing the occupational strata devised by Famuyiwa et al. The association between periodontal health and socio-economic classes of patients was statistically assessed using Chi-square tests (

Periodontal Condition and Treatment Needs of Some Pregnant Women in Ibadan, Nigeria

Background: Periodontal diseases had been reported to be worse in the presence of hormonal imbalance as seen during pregnancy, which if that is the case, should resolve following childbirth when the hormonal level of the women should have reverted to normal.Subjects and Methods: Periodontal health of 345 pregnant women was assessed once during pregnancy and at 14th week following their childbirth. The clinical variant of community periodontal index of treatment needs probe was used in the assessment. Results: During pregnancy, 167/345 (48.4%) of the women had deep pockets, 178/345 (51.6%) had shallow pockets. After childbirth, 5/345 (1.5%) had healthy periodontium, 25/345 (7.2%) had calculus and 7/345 (2.0%) had deep pockets. All of the respondents required oral hygiene instructions (OHI) and prophylaxis and 167/345 (48.4%) required complex treatment during pregnancy. After childbirth, 340/345 (98.5%) of the women required OHI and prophylaxis. Despite the great need for dental treatment among the respondents, majority never sought any treatment as 308/345 (89.3%) of the respondents had never visited a dentist before the study.Conclusion: The fact that the deep pocket reduced drastically following childbirth shows that it was not a true pocket. The high unmet treatment needs among the respondents require a concerted effort from dentists and policy makers in order to enlighten the women, especially those of child bearing age concerning the need for preventive dental visitation.Keywords: Periodontal condition, Post.partum period, Pregnancy, Treatment need

An audit of pattern of patients' presentation at the periodontics clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan

Objectives: This study is aimed at assessing the various reasons why patients present at the periodontics clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan.Materials and Methods: A six months retrospective review of patients treated in the periodontics clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan was conducted. Case file records were retrieved and information on patients’ bio-data, occupation and their various presenting complaint during their first consultation at the clinic were reviewed. Three hundred patients were seen in the clinic during the period under review but records of four of them were incomplete and were therefore excluded from the study. The association between the gender of the patients and their various initial presenting complaints was assessed using chi-square tests,p set at

Could Periodontitis Affect Time to Conception?

Background: Chronic periodontitis is gaining increasing prominence as a potential influnce on systemic health. Time to conception has been recently investigated in relation to chronic periodontitis among Caucasians. The authors set out to replicate the study among Nigerian pregnant women. Aim: The etiology of many medical conditions have been linked with the state of the oral health and one of such is the time to conception (TTC)among women. This study was aimed to assess the effect of periodontitis on TTC.Subjects and Methods: A cross.sectional study in a hospital setting involving 58 fertility clinic attendees and 70 pregnant controls using the simplified oral hygiene index, community periodontal index (CPI) and matrix metalloproteinase.8 immunoassay. Statistical analysis used included Spearmanfs rank order correlation statistic, Z.statistic and logistic regression.Results: Good oral hygiene correlated with shorter TTC (<1 year) than fair oral hygiene, but not statistically significant. The odds of increased conception were higher with CPI (odds ratio [OR]: 0.482, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.259.0.895, P = 0.02), periodontitis risk (OR 0.157, 95% CI 0.041.0.600, P < 0.01) and age (OR 0.842, 95% CI 0.756.0.938, P < 0.01). Conclusion: Chronic periodontitis was positively associated with increased TTC in the present study. The authors are recommending that women in child bearing age should be encouraged to have regular preventive dental check.ups in order to maintain good oral and periodontal health.Keywords: Fertility, Oral hygiene, Periodontitis, Time to conceptio

Eruption of primary Incisors: prevalence of sequence reversal and attitude of mothers In a Yoruba Community

Objective: The mandibular primary central Incisors are usually the first set of teeth to erupt In a child. However, eruption of the maxillary primary central incisors may precede that of the mandibular primary central  Incisors, which Is viewed as a taboo among some tribes In Nigeria.Various means of dealing with the 'taboo' have been suggested In  different communities. The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of maxillary primary Incisors erupting before the mandibular among some children and the acceptance of the situation by their mothers.Method: A cross sectional study of 290 nursing mothers and their children In the Immunisation clinics of the University College Hospital and the Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital both In Ibadan, Nigeria was carried out. Intra-oral examination of the children was done to ascertain that each of them had at least a tooth after which the mothers were required to fill anInterviewer-administered questionnaire.Result: Nine (3.1 %) out of the 290 children assessed erupted the maxillary Incisors ahead of the mandibular counterparts and their mothers allowed the teeth to erupt normally. One hundred and fifty-seven (54.1 %) of the mothers agreed that the tooth should be allowed to grow normally as part of the series of the primary dentition, while 26.9% wlll rather have It extracted.Conclusion: Though a greater percentage of the mothers would retain the affected tooth, concerted effort still needs to be made to further enlighten nursing mothers on the Issue of reversed eruption sequence.Keywords: Iruptlon, sequence, maxillary lndsors, attitude, prevalenc

A comparative study of the oral hygiene status of smokers and non‑smokers in Ibadan, Oyo state

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of tobacco smoking on gingival health and the oral hygiene status of respondents. Materials and Methods: A cross‑sectional survey of 213 adults from three communities in the Ibadan North local government was carried out. Respondents were divided into two groups comprising of 117 smokers (cases) and 96 non‑smokers (control). Intra oral examination was done using the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI‑S) and Gingival index (GI). Results: The mean age of the smokers was 31.2 ± 12.6 years and that of the non‑smokers 32.8 ± 9.5 years. The mean Simplified Oral Hygiene Index (OHI‑S) was 1.15 ± 0.51 for the non‑smokers and 2.19 ± 0.62 for the smokers (P < 0.05). The mean GI was 1.06 ± 0.55 for the non‑smokers and 1.62 ± 0.58 for the smokers (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The study shows that smoking is associated with increased severity of gingival disease. It is, therefore, recommended that smokers should be encouraged to visit a dentist for preventive procedure more regularly than the non‑smokers and better still, smokers should be encouraged to quit smoking as gingival disease is not without consequences if allowed to persist.Keywords: Cigarette smoking, dental, gingivitis, gingiva, oral hygiene status, periodontal, smokers, statusNigerian Medical Journal | Vol. 54 | Issue 4 | July-August | 201

A longitudinal study of the prevalence of gingival bleeding among selected Nigerian pregnant women

Objective: To assess the prevalence of gingival bleeding following gentle periodontal probing during pregnancy as compared to after child birth in the same set of women. Method: Three hundred and eighty-four consecutive pregnant women in third trimester were selected at the antenatal clinics of Adeoyo Maternity Hospital, and the University College Hospital, both in the city of Ibadan, south western part of Nigeria. An 18-item questionnaire was administered on the subjects to obtain information on their use of oral contraceptive prior to getting pregnant, their experiencing gingival bleeding at any point in time before or during pregnancy and their methods of oral hygiene procedure. This was followed by intra-oral examination to assess the presence or absence of gingival bleeding, which was determined by gentle probing of the gingival crevice with a Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) probe. The appearance of bleeding within 10 seconds indicates a positive score. The same set of women were re-examined at two other occasions following child birth. Result: Seventy-two (20.9%) of the subjects reported that they had been experiencing gingival bleeding during toothbrushing before the study. Two-hundred and sixty-one of the subjects bled during pregnancy and this reduced to 192 and 127 at the 6th and 14th week post-partum examination respectively. There was a statistically significant difference in the gingival bleeding on probing during pregnancy in comparison to the 6th and 14th week postpartum periods respectively (p = 0.000). Conclusion: The study shows that pregnancy must have played a major role in the tendency for the gingiva to bleed as there was statistically significant reduction in gingival bleeding following parturition.Keywords: Bleeding, gingiva, pregnancy, womenNig Dent J Vol 20 No. 1 Jan - June 201