A study on a stratified sample of 120 adult registered diabetic
patients from the only two diabetes clinics in Ibadan, University
College Hospital (UCH) and Ring Road Government Hospital and fifty (50)
healthy adult nondiabetic volunteers as control, shows that 51.48% of
the interviewees have never visited the dental clinic in their
lifetime. Also 43.3% of both diabetes and healthy control groups have
not visited the dental clinic for more than one year. The mean duration
since their last visit was 3.47 yrs (SD±2.48yrs). Interviewees
with higher educational status; post-Secondary School Higher Education,
had statistically significant lower percentage frequency of
nonattendance 15.79% (P<0.0053). The percentage frequency of regular
attendance among women was significantly higher than among men, 9.1%
and 5.0% (P<0.0005) respectively. Dental clinic attendance in the
healthy control is comparable to the attendance of the study group.
Although more diabetic patients than the healthy control group attended
the dental clinic occasionally due to one problem or another, this was
not statistically significant. (chi sq=0.68 P≤0.44).Toothache was
the greatest facilitator of dental clinic attendance. The greatest
barrier to the dental clinic attendance of diabetic patients as well as
the healthy control group was lack of perceived need for dental care