Dietary habits and dental assessment of suburan and rural children in Nigeria

A survey was carried out of 12-year old primary school children in the suburban and rural communities of Ile-Ife and Imesi-Ile respectively to determine their dietary practice and also assess their dental statue. The samples consisted of 574 children enrolled in 14 primary schools. These children were examined for dental caries, periodontal diseases, oral hygiene statue, dentofacial anomalies and traumatic dental injuries. There vas a significant difference in the social background of the children in the communities (P 0.05). The results also showed marked differences in the children's dietary attitude and practice. The caries' prevalence was generally low in the two regions but much lower in the Imesi-Ile sample than in the Ile-Ife sample, with mean DMF scores of 0.05 and 0.39 respectively. Only about 20% of the children of the suburban communities visited dentists compared with 6.6% of those in the rural community. The oral hygiene status was poorer in the Imeni-Ile children than their Ile-Ife counterparts with mean scores of 1.61 and 0.95 respectively. Malocclusion and traumatic dental injuries also showed a lower prevalence in the rural community. In order to meet the WHO standard of retention throughout life of a functional, aesthetic, natural dentition of not less than 20 teeth, and not requiring recourse to a prosthesis, dental health programs should be intensified to reduce dental problems in rural Nigeria communities because most dental diseases are preventable