Oral hygiene status and practices among rural dwellers

Abstract: Objectives: To determine the oral hygiene status and practices among rural dwellers in Delta and Edo States of Nigeria. Materials and Methods: One-hundred and fifty-four participants (45 males and 109 females) between the ages of 5 and 88 years with mean age of 33.44±2.34 years selected among individuals attending Children Evangelism Ministry Free Medical Outreach in five rural communities in both Delta and Edo State of Nigeria were studied. Data were collected through clinical examinations and the use of interviewer-administered questionnaires. Results: Of the 154 participants studied, 22.1% participants had one or more carious teeth, 11.7% participants had at least one missing tooth and 0.6% participants had fillings. Toothache (33.1%) and gingival bleeding (27.3%) were reported oral health problems among the participants. One third (33.8%) of the participants had poor oral hygiene status. Oral hygiene status was significantly associated with age, gender, and educational status, but there was no significant variation among the various communities. Majority of the participants cleaned their teeth with toothbrush and toothpaste-133 (86.4%), indulged in once-daily tooth cleaning-115 (74.7%), and have never visited the dentist-145 (94.2%). There existed significant association between daily tooth cleaning frequency, age, gender, location and level of education. Conclusion: The oral hygiene and oral health practices among rural dwellers were suboptimal. There is need to develop and implement community-oriented oral health promotion programs targeting oral health practices to control preventable oral diseases among rural dweller.

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• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Oral hygiene status and practices among rural dwellers ; volume:2 ; number:01 ; year:2013 ; pages:42-45 ; European journal of general dentistry ; 2, Heft 01 (2013), 42-45

Contributors, Places and Time

• Contributor: Azodo, Clement C. ; Amenaghawon, Osarobo Pius

Further information

• DOI: 10.4103/2278-9626.106806
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2021121610572032261168
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.