Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) can be invaluable in assisting to dispel myths commonly associated with natal/neonatal teeth. To ensure correct delivery of the message, baseline data of their beliefs is important. To assess the attitude and beliefs of some Nigerian TBAs to prematurely erupted teeth in infants, a total enumeration of the TBAs in the five urban Local Government Areas in Ibadan was conducted and 163 consenting TBAs were recruited using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The attitude of the TBAs was that of fear and shock (35.6%) while 30 (18.4%) will consider the child weird. Perceived causes of the variation include evil spirits (31.9%), contravening cultural taboos (9.2%), and prolonged gestation (4.9%). Beliefs on the effect of natal/neonatal teeth on the child include strange behavior (31.3%), child developing evil spiritual powers (41.1%), and mental retardation (3.1%). Practices included advising parents to get rid of/or hide the child (4.9%) and immediate extraction of the teeth with/without sacrifices (35.6%). There is an urgent need to address knowledge gaps by giving health education to TBAs.
The aim of the study was to determine dental caries prevalence among a representative sample of 12-14 year old school children in Ibadan, Nigeria with a view of determining Restorative Index and Met Need Index of the studied population. Dental caries was diagnosed according to the WHO method. Out of the 577 children in the age group, 65 children (11.2%) had dental caries experience as expressed with the DMFT index. More than 85% of the children were caries free. A mode of one DMFT was the highest score for the children although a 14-year-old pupil had DMFT score of 6. Female children had higher mean DMFT score of 31.1ע30.2 compared with ע87.1 1.0 for males (PϾ0.05). The Restorative Index (RI) and Met Need Index (MNI) for the children were very low as only the 14-year-old children had an RI of 3.45% and MNI of 0.11. Restorative Index reflects the restorative care of those who have suffered the disease and it is measured as a ratio of filled to filled plus decayed teeth percent that is F/FםD percent. Met Need Index is an indication of treatment received by an individual and it is measured by the ratio of the mean missing plus filled teeth to mean decayed, missing and filled teeth that is MםF/DMF. Since cost of management, which may be out of the reach of these children, has been identified as one of the factors militating against their receiving treatment, the result of this study suggest that oral health education with emphasis on correcting snacking habits of school children is desirable. countries have reported an increased prevalence which has been closely linked to changing life styles which includes diet rich in sugars 6). High caries prevalence among adolescents has been reported 7,8) , although recent trends have shown them to benefit from the dramatic progress in the reduction of the prevalence of dental caries in most developed countries 9) , but there is paucity of information on caries prevalence among young Nigerian adolescents. Adolescence marks a time in which the role of the parents in the child's dental home care needs to be minimized and the responsibility of the adolescent for managing his or her own oral health program must be emphasized. The purpose of this study was to document caries prevalence among a representative sample of 12-14 year old school children in Ibadan, Nigeria
The study was carried out to determine factors affecting oral health care service utilization among a representative sample of junior secondary school children in Ibadan, Nigeria. The study was a cross sectional one in which self administered questionnaire was filled by each student. Data were collected on their socio-demographic characteristics, previous visit(s) to the dental clinic and reasons for the visit(s), reasons for non dental visits for those who have never visited the dentist, the students' beliefs in regular dental visits and reasons for these beliefs. Only 457 students completed their questionnaires reasonably well and their responses were analysed. Their mean age was 13.04±1.10 years. Over 80% of the children claimed they have never visited the dentist and lack of perceived need accounted for 82.8% of the various reasons given for the non visit. Sixty eight point nine percent of the children believed in regular dental visits while 27.8% of them did not believe in regular dental visits. Equity in access and opportunity for disease prevention among young adolescents may be achieved by school oral health program whereby regular oral health talks/education is instituted.
How to cite this article: Bankole OO, Lawal FB. Effectiveness of an oral health education program to improve mothers' awareness of natal teeth: a randomized controlled study.
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