Pattern of presentation of oral health conditions by children at University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu: A retrospective study

Aim: The study aimed to determine the pattern of occurrence of oral conditions among children that attended the Child Dental Health clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu over a 45 months period.Materials and Methods: Clinical records of 305 patients, aged 3 days to 16 years, who attended the Child Dental Health Clinic of the UNTH from April 2008 to December 2011 were retrieved and analyzed.Results: Out of a total of 305 children who visited the Child Dental Health Clinic within this period, there were 148 (48.5%) males and 157 (51.5%) females. The ages ranged from 3 days to 16 years with a mean age of 9.05 years, only 4.6% made asymptomatic visit while 95.4% made symptomatic visit. 68.2% had caries and its sequeale, with no significant difference across the gender (P = 1.472). Nearly 91.1% had periodontal diseases, with a significant difference noted (P = 0.020) 2% had tooth developmental anomalies, 10.5% had traumatic dental injuries, 12.1% had malocclusion and other esthetic problems, 15.1% had other oral pathologies, 14.4% had abnormalities of tooth eruption.Conclusion: A significant 95.4% of the children made symptomatic visit. Periodontal disease was the most prevalent finding followed by dental caries. There is an urgent need to increase dental health awareness among children through school based continuing dental education program and also among other pediatric care givers such as parents, teachers, and pediatricians.Key words: Asymptomatic visits, oral health conditions, pattern of presentation, symptomati

Governance, maternal well-being and early childhood caries in 3-5-year-old children

BACKGROUND: This study assessed the direct, indirect and total effect of distal - political - risk indicators (affecting populations), and proximal risk indicators (affecting women) on the global prevalence of early childhood caries (ECC) in 3-5 year old children. METHODS: Data on global ECC prevalence were obtained from a prior study. Data for distal risk indicators (voice and accountability; political stability/absence of terrorism; control of corruption) were obtained from the World Bank Governance indicators, 2016. Data for proximal risk indicators (women's opportunity for leadership; percentage of female legislators, top officials and managers; basic employability status of women; ability of women to afford time off work to care for newborns; gross national income (GNI) per capita for females) were derived from the Human Development Index, 2016. Associations between variables were assessed with path analysis. RESULTS: Voice and accountability (β = - 0.60) and GNI per capita for females (β = - 0.33) were directly associated with a lower ECC prevalence. Political stability/absence of terrorism (β =0.40) and higher percentage of female legislators, senior officials and managers (β = 0.18) were directly associated with a higher ECC prevalence. Control of corruption (β = - 0.23) was indirectly associated with a lower ECC prevalence. Voice and accountability (β = 0.12) was indirectly associated with a higher ECC prevalence. Overall, voice and accountability (β = - 0.49), political stability/absence of terrorism (β = 0.34) and higher female GNI (β = - 0.33) had the greatest effects on ECC prevalence. CONCLUSION: Distal risk indicators may have a stronger impact on ECC prevalence than do proximal risk indicators.. Approaches to control ECC may need to include political reforms

Family Structure and Oral Habits among Children Age 1 to 12 Years resident in Ile-Ife, Nigeria

bits are repetitive actions that are done automatically. These behaviours are started and stopped spontaneously with or without deleterious effect on the developing occlusion. Aim: To explore the family related factors associated with oral habits in children resident in sub-urban Nigeria. Methods: A cross sectional study utilizing a household survey to recruit 992 1year to 12-year-olds. Information collected using a structured questionnaire included gender, family structure (parenting structure, birth rank, number of siblings, socioeconomic status) and types of non-nutritive habits. The association between family structures related variables and presence of non-nutritive oral habits was determined using Chi square. Logistic regression was used to determine the predictors of presence of oral habits. Results: There was no significant association between the prevalence of oral habits and parenting structure (p=0.52), birth rank (p=0.50) and socioeconomic status (p=0.14). However, the association between oral habits prevalence and number of siblings the child had was significant (p=0.03). The odds of having a non-nutritive oral habit reduced insignificantly for those from middle (AOR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.42-1.08) and low (AOR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.59-1.55) socioeconomic class when compared with those with high socioeconomic status; and for last born and only children (AOR: 0.94; 95% CI: 0.56-1.60) and children with 2-4 siblings (AOR: 0.62; 95% CI: 0.36-1.09) when compared with those that have more than 4 siblings. The odds were higher for children who were living with single parents or guardians (AOR: 1.41; 95% CI: 0.76-2.59; p=0.27) and for males (AOR: 1.21; 95% CI: 0.82-1.78). Conclusion: The study was unable to identify a significant family related predictor of presence of non-nutritive oral habits in the study population though a number of these factors increased the odds of having the habits. There is need to explore if specific family factors are associated with the presence of specific non-nutritive habits in this group of children