BackgroundTo study the association between oral health behaviour of senior dental students in Nigeria and their gender, age, knowledge of preventive care, and attitudes towards preventive dentistry.MethodsQuestionnaires were administered to 179 senior dental students in the six dental schools in Nigeria. The questionnaire obtained information on age, gender, oral self-care, knowledge of preventive dental care and attitudes towards preventive dentistry. Attending a dental clinic for check-up by a dentist or a classmate within the last year was defined as preventive care use. Students who performed oral self-care and attended dental clinic for check-ups were noted to have complied with recommended oral self-care. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression models were used for statistical analyses.ResultsMore male respondents agreed that the use of fluoride toothpaste was more important than the tooth brushing technique for caries prevention (P < 0.001). While the use of dental floss was very low (7.3%), more females were more likely to report using dental floss (p=0.03). Older students were also more likely to comply with recommended oral self-care (p<0.001). In binary regression models, respondents who were younger (p=0.04) and those with higher knowledge of preventive dental care (p=0.008) were more likely to consume sugary snacks less than once a day.ConclusionGender differences in the awareness of the superiority of using fluoridated toothpaste over brushing in caries prevention; and in the use of dental floss were observed. While older students were more likely to comply with recommended oral self-care measures, younger students with good knowledge of preventive dental care were more likely to consume sugary snacks less than once a day.

BackgroundMultiple factors influence a child’s ability to access oral health care. The aim of this study was to identify factors that facilitated and served as barriers to children’s utilization of oral health care services in Enugu, Nigeria.MethodsThe study recruited 1406 primary school pupils aged 8 to 11 years. All the children received oral health education, with the aid of an oral health education curriculum appropriate for their age. After this, referral letters were given to the children. Twelve months later, the study participants were revisited in their schools to obtain information on their reasons for utilizing, or not utilizing an oral health care service in the last 12 months. The association between socio-economic status; form of parenthood; number of siblings, birth rank and reasons for utilization and non-utilization of dental services were assessed. Influence on the child’s predisposition to oral health service utilization on dental visit was also assessed.ResultsOnly 116 (14.7 %) of the 791 children accessible during the 12 months follow-up visit had visited the dental clinic and the main reason for utilization was the desire to fulfill the dentist’s request for dental visit (41.9 %) while parents’ inability to make out time for a dental visit (43.3 %) was the main reason for non-utilization. The odds of utilizing oral health care services for study participants from the middle (AOR: 0.50; CI: 0.31–0.79; P = 0.003) and low (AOR: 0.24; CI: 0.13–0.45; p = <0.001) socioeconomic strata, and those living with guardians/relatives (AOR: 0.08; CI: 0.01–0.60; p = 0.01) were decreased when compared to those living with both parents, respectively. Respondents with positive perception about dental service utilization had increased odds of utilizing oral health care (AOR: 2.96; CI: 1.48–5.90; p = 0.002).ConclusionDentists can be strong motivators for children to utilize oral health care. Time is a significant barrier for the utilization of dental services. The programs designed to address barriers to oral health care utilization for children should be geared towards overcoming the possible threats that socio-economic status and type of parents they have may pose, to reduce inequity in dental service utilization.

BackgroundStudents’ motives for studying Dentistry have been a subject of interest for years because of the potential for understanding the psychological makeup and subsequent job satisfaction for the dentist. It is also useful in identifying expectations of the profession. This study therefore tried to identify study motives and career preferences of dental students especially with respect to the practice of paediatric dentistry.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire. The final year students in six dental schools in Nigeria were required to fill the questionnaire. Students were asked to rank their motives and career preferences on a Likert like scale with points ranging from 0–5 where 0 represented a factor that had no influence on their decision and 5 represented a very influential factor. The underlying dimensions for study motives, career preference, impression about and motive for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry were identified using factor analysis.ResultsOne hundred and seventy nine of 223 students (80.3%) participated in this study. Motives for the practice of dentistry included characteristics of the profession, altruism and intellectual challenges, existence of artistic theme in dentistry and parent’s recommendation. Overall, 67.1% of respondents indicated interest in postgraduate studies and 50.8% were interested in paediatric dentistry practice. The main motives for showing interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry were ‘personal interest, professional interest and interest of significant others in children’, and ‘family influence’. Significantly more males than females were interested in the practice of paediatric dentistry though the motives for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry did not differ significantly by sex or age.ConclusionThe non-significant sex difference in the motives for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry is a possible reflection of changes in strong cultural themes in the motives for career choices in Nigeria.

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Caries-preventive practice among dental students in Nigeria could be improved. It may be important to explore the possible role of problem-based learning approach in addressing this challenge.

Tobacco use had a negative effect on the oral health of the participants as smokers had worse oral health profile than non-smokers. They may benefit from counseling programs with the view to educate them on the effect of tobacco use on oral health and by extension, the general health. The full implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) treaty in Nigeria could help in curtailing these unwanted consequences of tobacco use.

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.

Background:Withan increasing demand in the number of patients seeking orthodontictreatment at the Orthodontic unit of University of Benin teaching hospital it becomes imperative to provide normative values for anterior face heights. These values will then form a basis for clinical diagnosis, treatment planning and evaluation of facial proportions following orthodontic treatments.Aim:The aim of this study was to measure anterior face height proportions of school children in Benin City.Subjects and Methods:One hundred Lateral cephalometric radiographs of 12-15 years old school children, in Benin City were taken to establish anterior face height values. Manual tracings of the cephalograms were carried out and the linear measurements were recorded, summarized, and statistically analyzed using the Microsoft Excel Programme 2000. The comparative test was conducted using the Student's t-test to demonstrate any statistically significant difference between the values for the males and females, at 95% confidence level P < 0.05, was regarded as significant.Result:Out of the 100 subjects who participated in the study, there were 40 males 40% (40/100) and 60 females 60% (60/100), with a mean age of 12.2 years. Following a combined data analysis for both males and females, the mean biological values obtained for the parameters investigated are; Anterior Lower Face Height (ALFH) 60.9 (5) mm, Anterior Upper Face Height 47.7 (4) mm, Anterior Total Face Height (ATFH) 108.5 (5) mm, ratio of ALFH to ATFH ALFH: ATFH 56 (4)%.Conclusion:This study provides anterior face height measurements, which will be of great significance in evaluating facial proportions andesthetics in orthodontics, orthognathic surgery, and prosthetic dentistry.