Socio-demographic disparity in oral health among the poor: a cross sectional study of early adolescents in Kilwa district, Tanzania

There is a lack of studies considering social disparity in oral health emanating from adolescents in low-income countries. This study aimed to assess socio-demographic disparities in clinical- and self reported oral health status and a number of oral health behaviors. The extent to which oral health related behaviors might account for socio-demographic disparities in oral health status was also examined. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Kilwa district in 2008. One thousand seven hundred and forty five schoolchildren completed an interview and a full mouth clinical examination. Caries experience was recorded using WHO criteria, whilst type of treatment need was categorized using the ART approach. The majority of students were caries free (79.8%) and presented with a low need for dental treatment (89.3%). Compared to their counterparts in opposite groups, rural residents and those from less poor households presented more frequently with caries experience (DMT>0), high need for dental treatment and poor oral hygiene behavior, but were less likely to report poor oral health status. Stepwise logistic regressions revealed that social and behavioral variables varied systematically with caries experience, high need for dental treatment and poor self reported oral health. Socio-demographic disparities in oral health outcomes persisted after adjusting for oral health behaviors. Socio-demographic disparities in oral health outcomes and oral health behaviors do exist. Socio-demographic disparities in oral health outcomes were marginally accounted for by oral health behaviors. Developing policies and programs targeting both social and individual determinants of oral health should be an urgent public health strategy in Tanzania

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Are we ready for the 21st century

Tanzanian High School students' attitude towards five University professional courses

Objective: To determine the attitude of high school students majoring in Physics, Chemistry and Biology (PCB) towards Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry, Veterinary Medicine and Nursing as professions at university.Design: A cross sectional study of a representative sample of high school students using a pretested attitudinal questionnaire. Attitude components tested were degree of liking, degree of admiration and intentions to visit a professional at work.Setting: High schools in Tanzania mainland majoring in PCB.Subjects and Methods: All 352 high school students from a representative sample of five schools: two boy-schools; two girl-schools; and one mixed gender-school participated byfilling in a questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of demographic variables on age, sex, class, education and employment status of father and mother as background variables, and questions on the degree of liking, admiration and preference to visit a particular professionalat work. All the attitudinal questions were scored on a 5-point scale. Scores for the threeattitudinal components were summed to group subjects into positive, neutral and negative attitude. Main outcome measure: Attitude of students to five professions they could study at a higher level.Results: Eighty seven percent of the high school students had a positive attitude towards medicine, 66% towards pharmacy, 40% dentistry, 12% veterinary and 9% nursing. Dentistry and veterinary had the highest percentage of students (46.5% and 37.3%) who hada neutral attitude towards the professions, and the highest percentage of students (11.7% and 9.9%) who reported to have had no sufficient information to enable them indicate whether they admired dentistry and veterinary medicine or not. Significantly more girls than boys liked, admired and preferred to study nursing (c2 varied from 11.39 to 12.99; p-value < 0.005).Conclusion: Medicine was the most liked profession while nursing was the least liked. Pharmacy, dentistry and veterinary medicine fell in between. There was insufficient knowledge about dentistry and veterinary medicine among the high school students

Ameloblastoma in Tanzania: A retrospective analysis of histological records

World-wide, ameloblastoma have been discussed in relation and  modalities of treatment. In Tanzania, case,s of ameloblastoma are seen but no data is available to quantify the magnitude of the disease within the community. The present study aims at describing the occurrence, sex, age and regional distribution of ameloblastoma cases seem from June 1989 to June 1997 in Tanzania.' The pathology records in the Department of Oral Surgery and Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Muhimbili University College of Health Sciences, were examined for all cases of oral and maxillofacial tumours occuring over that period. The ameloblastoma cases were analysed for age, sex, anatomical distribution, clinical features, regional distribution and treatment methods. Only cases confirmed by tissue biopsy were included in the study. Out of 384 oral and maxillofacial tumours, 18.2% (70) were ameloblastoma. Males (58.6%) were affected more thanfemales (41.4%). Most of the ameloblastomas were found in the mandible (97.1 %) in the molar/angle regions (57.1 %) and 20% were in the incisors/canine areas and occurred in the third and fourth decades of life. Fourteen regions out of twenty regions in Tanzania recorded some cases of ameloblastoma, but majority of the cases were from Dar es Salaam  (29.6%), Mbeya (18.5%), and Kilimanjaro regions (9.3%). Ameloblastoma in this study occurs predominately in the molar/angle and incisors/canine areas of the mandible with men being more affected than women. Radical excision entailing partial/total mandibulectomy or maxillectomy gave better results