ENDODONTIC TREATMENT IN CHILDREN: A FIVE-YEAR RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF CASES SEEN AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HOSPITAL, IBADAN, NIGERIA.

BACKGROUND: Endodontic treatment aims at preservation of teeth that are pulpally damaged, consequently make the teeth functional on the dental arch. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed at determining the prevalence and pattern of endodontic treatment carried out at the Paediatric dental unit of the University College Hospital, Ibadan over a five-year period. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a retrospective study of all patients below 16 years of age treated for various dental problems in our unit between August, 2010 and July, 2015. The records were reviewed and cases with endodontic treatments selected. Data such as age, gender, endodontically treated teeth, reasons for endodontic treatment and type of endodontic treatment given were retrieved from the patients' dental records. RESULTS: A total of 3,237 children were seen during the period under review, out of which 312 (9.6%) received endodontic treatment. There were 159 males and 153 females with a mean age of 10.2 ± 3.5. Children aged 10-13 years had the highest frequency of endodontic treatment (36.8%) and this was majorly due to dental trauma, followed by those aged 6-9 years (28.6%) who were treated mainly for dental caries. Root canal therapy was the most prevalent endodontic treatment in permanent teeth (central incisor; 32.7% and first permanent molars; 14.6%) while pulpectomy was the most prevalent endodontic treatment in primary teeth (p = < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Dental caries and trauma were the commonest reasons for endodontic treatment in primary and permanent teeth respectively. The prevalence of endodontic treatment in the studied children was 9.6% with highly invasive and multiple visits endodontic treatment type (pulpectomy and root canal therapy) being the most common. There is a need for early presentation of dental conditions so as to reduce complications which require such endodontic treatments.

Dental caries prevalence and bilateral occurrence in premolars and molars of adolescent school children in Ibadan, Nigeria.

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of dental caries in premolars and molars of adolescent school children in Ibadan, Nigeria with a view of comparing findings from this study with previous African studies. A cross section of 12-19 year-old school children from the five local government areas in Ibadan were examined over a period of three months by two examiners (OD and DA), using the WHO criteria for diagnosing dental caries. Only premolars and molars were examined but the third molars were excluded because they were not fully erupted in most children. The mean age of the children under study was 16.2 ± 0.83 years. Dental caries was detected in 10.8% of the children. Overall, 225 teeth had dental caries, out of which 13.3% were premolars while 86.67% were molars. Among the molars, first molars were mostly affected by caries (68.72%) while 31.28% second molars were affected. Second premolars were more affected by caries among the premolars. Also bilateral caries occurrence was highest in the mandibular first molars. In conclusion since the first molars were the most vulnerable teeth to decay, caries preventive programs on them need to be drawn up.

Dental students' perception of their interactions with faculty and learning activities in Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: For effective development of policy for faculty advances, it is necessary to know students' views. This study describes the perceptions of clinical students about teaching skills of faculty in the dental schools in Nigeria. METHODS: A validated, self-administered questionnaire adapted from Clinical Education Instructional Quality was used to survey 109 dental students from the three dental schools in Nigeria. Score of > or = 45 and > or = 39 was considered good perceptions for "interaction with clinical instructors" and "involvement in specific learning" respectively. Computed perception scores were compared by year of training. RESULTS: Participants comprised 64 males and 45 females; aged 21.0 to 35.0 years (mean age = 24.2 +/- 2.5 years). Majority (89.0%) of the students had good perception of their interaction with clinical instructors while 89.9% had good perception about their involvement in learning activities. More students in year three than two had positive perception about their interaction with clinical instructors and involvement in activities. CONCLUSION: Overall, dental students in Nigeria had good perception of their interaction with their clinical instructors and involvement in various learning activities but they desired more opportunity to get involve especially in the aspects of dental procedures, patients' vital signs and interpretation of laboratory tests.

Prevalence and pattern of early childhood caries in Ibadan, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND: Early childhood caries is a public health problem in a developing country such as Nigeria where there are limited resources to combat the situation. AIM: The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence and pattern of early childhood caries (ECC) among nursery school children aged 3 to 5 years in Ibadan, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted on 540 nursery school children aged 3 to 5 years old in nursery schools within Ibadan. Oral examination was performed and dmft (decayed-missing-filled teeth) indices were recorded. Data was analyzed using SPSS 16.0 and descriptive statistics was applied. The level of significance was taken at p value < 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of early childhood caries was 23.5% with a total of 353 carious teeth seen in 127 children. The mean dmft was 0.65 ± 1.49 and the decayed (d) component constituted 100% of the dmft scores (all dmft was due to untreated caries). The second mandibular primary molars were the teeth most affected by caries, accounting for 35.4% of all decayed teeth. Severe ECC prevalence was 2.2%. CONCLUSION: The high caries prevalence observed on the second mandibular primary molars reveals the rampant nature of this disease and the absence of any missing or filled tooth in the dmft indices shows poor dental awareness among the parents/guardians of the children.

Parental attitudes to the care of the carious primary dentition experience from a Nigerian tertiary hospital.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the factors associated with parents choices of dental care concerning carious primary teeth of their children. METHODS: A structured, self administered questionnaire was issued to parents of children attending the paediatric dental clinic of the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan. Items in the questionnaire included a section on the past dental visit(s) of parents, reason(s) for the clinic attendance and treatment(s) received, the second section contained items on parental treatment preferences under two different clinical scenarios of child dental health; scenario 1, asymptomatic carious primary tooth and scenario 2, symptomatic carious primary tooth. The last section contained items on determinants of parents' choice of treatment. RESULTS: Majority of the accompanying parent were mothers (75.8%) with a mean age of 39.3 +/- 6.81, fathers were 20.8% with a mean age of 45.1 +/- 5.24 while others were 3.4% with a mean age of 51.2 +/- 1.09. Under the two clinical scenarios, majority of the parents preferred the dentist to determine the treatment of their children (scenario 1 = 53.7%; scenario 2 = 62.5%). The accompanying parents and their socioeconomic status had no significant effect on parental preferences under the two clinical scenarios while past parental dental treatment had the greatest influence on parental choice (scenario 1:x2 = 12.93; p = 0.03 for past fillings experience and scenario 2: X2 = 6.881. = X 0.001 for past extraction experience). CONCLUSION: The reliance of parents on dentist for decision on the choice of their children dental treatment and the dependence of parents choice on their past dental treatment experience suggested the need for dental health education to both parents and children on dental caries.

Odontogenic tumours in children and adolescents: a review of forty-eight cases.

OBJECTIVES: Odontogenic tumours comprise a large heterogeneous group of lesions originating from odontogenic epithelium and/or ectomesenchyme and its vestiges. The aim of this study was to analyze odontogenic tumours in children and adolescents seen at a tertiary institution in South Western Nigeria and compare with results from previous studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Archival records of the Department of Oral Pathology, University College Hospital Ibadan were reviewed. All histologically diagnosed odontogenic tumours in patients 19 years and below spanning a period of 21 years (1990-2011) were retrieved. Data regarding age, gender, and tumor topography were analyzed using SPSS for Window (version 18.0; SPSS Inc. Chicago, IL). RESULTS: One hundred and forty seven jaw swellings were seen in children and adolescents aged 19 or less during the study period, out of which 48 (32.7%) were odontogenic tumours. More cases were seen in males than females with a male: female ratio of 7:5. The mandible was the commonest site of occurrence with mandible: maxilla ratio of 11:4. Ameloblastoma was the commonest odontogenic tumours with 14 (29.1%) solid ameloblastoma and 9 (18.8%) cystic ameloblastoma cases followed by fibromyxoma with 8 (16.7%) cases. calcifying epithelial odontogenic tumour , calcifying cystic odontogenic tumour and odontogenic fibroma were occasionally seen. CONCLUSION: This study showed that ameloblastoma was the most common odontogenic tumour in children and no case of odontoma was seen. Odontogenic tumours in children and adolescents may not be as rare as previously reported by some authors and inclusion of keratocystic odontogenic tumour in this study slightly affected the relative incidence of odontogenic tumors in children and adolescents.

Influence of parental socioeconomic status on caries prevalence among children seen at the university college hospital, ibadan.

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is a lifetime disease and its sequelae have been found to constitute health problems of immense proportion in children. Environmental factors such as culture, socioeconomic status, lifestyle and dietary pattern can have a great impact on cariesresistance or caries-development in a child. OBJECTIVE: The present study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between dental caries and socioeconomic status of children attending paediatric dental clinic in UCH Ibadan. METHODS: Socio-demographic data for each child that attended paediatric dental clinic, UCH Ibadan within a period of one year was obtained and recorded as they presented in the dental clinic, followed by oral examination for each of them in the dental clinic to detect decayed, missing and filled deciduous and permanent teeth (dmft and DMFT respectively). RESULTS: The mean dmft and DMFT score for the 209 children seen within period of study were 1.58 ± 2.4 and 0.63+1.3 respectively. Highest caries prevalence (46.9%) was found within the high social class while the caries prevalence in middle and low social class were 40.5% and 12.6% respectively. The highest dmft/DMFT of >7 was recorded in two children belonging to high social class. The difference in dmft in the three social classes was statistically significant (x 2 = 51.86,p= 0.008) but for DMFT, it was not statistically significant (x2 = 6.92, p = 0.991). CONCLUSION: Caries experience was directly related to socio-economic status of the parents of the studied children with highest caries prevalence in high and middle socioeconomic classes.

Influence of Parental Socioeconomic Status on Caries Prevalence among Children Seen at the University College Hospital; Ibadan

Background: Dental caries is a lifetime disease and its sequelae have been found to constitute health problems of immense proportion in children. Environmental factors such as culture; socioeconomic status; lifestyle and dietary pattern can have a great impact on cariesresistance or caries-development in a child. Objective: The present study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between dental caries and socioeconomic status of children attending paediatric dental clinic in UCH Ibadan. Methods: Socio-demographic data for each child that attended paediatric dental clinic; UCH Ibadan within a period of one year was obtained and recorded as they presented in the dental clinic; followed by oral examination for each of them in the dental clinic to detect decayed; missing and filled deciduous and permanent teeth (dmft and DMFT respectively). Results: The mean dmft and DMFT score for the 209 children seen within period of study were 1.58 + 2.4 and 0.63+1.3 respectively. Highest caries prevalence (46.9) was found within the high social class while the caries prevalence in middle and low social class were 40.5 and 12.6 respectively. The highest dmft/DMFT of 7 was recorded in two children belonging to high social class. The difference in dmft in the three social classes was statistically significant (x 2 = 51.86;p= 0.008) but for DMFT; it was not statistically significant (x2 = 6.92; p = 0.991).Conclusion: Caries experience was directly related to socio-economic status of the parents of the studied children with highest caries prevalence in high and middle socioeconomic classes

A comparison of clinical and radiographic caries diagnosis on posterior teeth of children seen at a Nigerian teaching hospital.

Early detection and initiation of therapy for dental caries is the most effective means of ensuring resolution of the condition and its sequelae. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of clinical and radiographic (using bitewing radiograph) methods of caries diagnosis in children. The subjects were 172 children within the age range of 5-12 years attending the Paedodontic Clinic of the University College Hospital for the first time. They were clinically examined for the presence of dental caries using the WHO criteria. Left and right bitewing radiographs were taken following the clinical examination to detect dental caries. Clinical examination found additional 4 occlusal caries (incipient caries) that were not diagnosed radiographically and radiographic examination revealed additional 20 approximal surface caries that were not evident clinically in deciduous teeth. In permanent teeth, 3 additional occlusal caries were diagnosed clinically while only one additional approximal caries was diagnosed radiographically. These observations revealed the additional diagnostic value of bitewing radiograph in the diagnosis of approximal caries in children and the importance of clinical examinations in diagnosis of early occlusal caries (incipient caries) which are difficult to see on dental radiographs. In view of these findings, the use of bitewing radiographs combined with careful clinical examination will be of great advantage in early detection of caries in children.