The prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis among secondary school children in Ibadan, Nigeria.

OBJECTIVES: This study was conducted to determine the prevalence and severity of dental fluorosis among secondary school children in Ibadan, Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select the participants who consisted of children aged 12-14 years taken from eleven randomly selected secondary schools in the five local government areas of Ibadan Metropolis. The children were examined by the Principal Investigator after submitting parental administered questionnaires. The diagnosis of dental fluorosis was based on the TF index. RESULTS: The mean age of the 1372 participants (825 males and 547 females) was 13.15 ± 0.80 years. Dental fluorosis was diagnosed in 157 (11.4%) children (98 males and 59 females). There was no statistically significant difference between age or gender and the occurrence of fluorosis. Most of the cases were very mild with greater than 90% of the affected teeth having a TF score of ≤3. The most severely affected were the maxillary molars. Severe disfiguring cases of dental fluorosis were not common among the secondary school children examined. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dental fluorosis was found to be low, with majority of the cases being very mild.

Conservative management of patients with gross morphological changes following complete loss of teeth: case reports.

This paper reports on the conservative management of five Nigerian edentulous patients who presented with shallow palatal vault, grossly resorbed and uneven alveolar ridges, flabby ridge forms, shallow sulci and loss of vertical face height as a result of tooth loss. There was associated loss of stability, retention and support of their complete dentures. Though the literature is replete with various problems in such patients, conservative treatment was employed in all the five cases, to achieve acceptable outcome. The paper recommends this treatment option and highlights the prosthetic techniques utilised in managing the patients including the factors that contributed to successful conservative treatment. In addition, the problems encountered when embarking on such treatments are enumerated and appropriate solutions proferred.

The effect of psychological management on dental anxiety in children.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of using of psychological management techniques on the level of anxiety in Nigerian children during dental management. The Short Form of the Dental Anxiety Survey Schedule was administered to 81 children who were attending a suburban dental clinic for the first time. This schedule was re-administered again two weeks later when they came for a follow up visit. The age of the patients was recorded. The types as well as number of psychological techniques employed during treatment were also noted. The overall mean dental anxiety level of the children decrease from an average of 15.23 +/- 5.03 before treatment to 13.40 + 4.13 after treatment (p < 0.001). However, the mean dental anxiety score in children in whom no psychological technique was employed during treatment increased after treatment. On the other hand, there was also a statistically significant decrease in the mean dental anxiety level of children treated using either a single psychological technique or combined psychological techniques after treatment. Better results were obtained when combined psychological techniques where used than when only a single technique was used. It was concluded that psychological techniques used in the management of dental anxiety in children are highly effective in decreasing dental anxiety levels. Better results are obtained when a number of techniques are combined effectively.

The effect of sociodemographic factors on dental anxiety in children seen in a suburban Nigerian hospital.

OBJECTIVE: This paper attempts to determine the sociodemographic factors that relate to dental anxiety in suburban African children. METHODS: A short form of the Dental subscale of the Child Fear Survey schedule (DFSS_SF) was administered to 81 patients (first time attendees at the clinic) between the ages of eight and 13 years. The psychometric scale was used after determining its reliability and validity to ensure that it was culturally appropriate. Age, gender, sociodemographic status were also recorded. The dental anxiety score distribution, its threshold level as well as the relationship between the sociodemographic variables and patients' anxiety were determined. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant association between age (P = 0.856), gender (P = 0.124), socio-economic status of the children (P= 0.12) and level of dental anxiety. However, a statistically significant relationship did exist between the type of school the child attended and the anxiety level (P = 0.009). Also, 18 (14.8%) of the children were found to have high anxiety levels. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies involving larger non-clinic samples are needed to examine the issues raised by the findings of this study.

Parental anxiety as a possible predisposing factor to child dental anxiety in patients seen in a suburban dental hospital in Nigeria.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between parents' anxiety level and that of the child patient. METHODS: The Short Form of the Dental Anxiety Survey Schedule was administered to 81 children who were attending the dental clinic for the first time. The Dental Anxiety Scale was also used to collect relevant information from the parents. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant correlation between the anxiety level of the mother (r = -0.02, P = 0.82) or the father (r = -0.59, P = 0.62) and that of their child. However, bivariate analysis showed a closer association between the anxiety levels of the mother and the child (P = 0.055) compared to that between the father and the child (P = 0.475) although this was again found not to be statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Assessment and management of the anxiety level of the mother may be needed in some cases, both to manage the child effectively and to break the cycle of dental care anxiety in families.

Bacteriological investigation of infected root canals in Benin City, Nigeria.

Possible viable bacteria were isolated and determined through culture based on paper point inoculation from infected root canals of 50 patients who presented for endodontic therapy at the school of Dentistry, University of Benin Teaching Hospital and Central Hospital, Benin City. Eighty-one strains of bacteria were isolated from 50 patients. The bacterial isolates were Streptococcus species, (51), Klebsiella species (17), E. coll (5), Staphylococcus aureus (3), Micrococcus species (2), Neisseria spp. (2) and Lactobacillus. The isolation of Klebsiella spp from the study is particularly interesting, constituting 21% of all the isolated bacteria. The implications of these findings in root canal infections are presented.

Immunoglobulin A1 and A2 subclass of salivary antibodies to Candida albicans in patients with oral candidosis.

Immunoglobulin A antibody titres to a cytoplasmic protein extract of Candida albicans were determined by ELISA in saliva from 20 patients with oral candidosis and 21 controls. Patients had significantly increased levels of salivary IgA anti-Candida antibodies when compared with controls (P less than 0.001). Antibody levels were associated with IgA1 subclass in 90% of the patients; in contrast, IgA2 subclass was predominant in 67% of the controls. Antifungal therapy resulted in significantly decreased IgA1 titres (P less than 0.05) whilst the mean IgA2 antibody titre remained unchanged. The results indicate that Candida infection may change the subclass pattern of salivary IgA antibodies.