Superstitious knowledge of the phenomena of teeth eruption in rural area of Ferlo in Senegal

Teeth are physiological phenomenon that appears in child and who begins around 6 to 8 months after birth. The aim of this work was to study superstitious knowledge of the phenomena of teeth eruption in the mothers peulhs of Ferlo in Senegal. The research method was a descriptive and qualitative study; comprising questioning the mothers of children in the phase of active teeth eruption by structured, semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Information collected were related to the signs and symptoms of teeth, the superstitions associated with the dental age of eruption, the first type of tooth on the arcade, the rhizalyse and the practices of oral hygiene in the child. Data were analysed manually and presented in framed and of verbatims. From the findings, it is seen that fever, the diarrhoea, the vomiting and the dribbles constituted the principal signs. The native or neonatal tooth and the use of the stick rub-tooth to clean the teeth in the evening and the phenomenon of rhizalyse were related to superstitious interpretations. Programs of information and communication would make it possible to better sensitize the populations to optimize the good practices in the children in active phase of teeth eruption

Mothers Perception of Teething in Children

BACKGROUND.Teething is a physiological process which creates little local discomfort. Mothers ascribe many medical problems to teething despite no evidence to support these belief and misconceptions. The objective of this study was to determine mothers Perception of teething in Children and remedies used to manage them.METHODS.A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on a consecutive sample of 408 mothers of children aged 3 months-2years. Data was obtained using a self-administered questionnaire for the literate mothers while the investigators marked questions for those who could not read after translating the questions into Pidgin eng. The obtained data were analysed using the EPI info version 6.04 and SPSS version 16.0. Statistical significance at 95% confidence interval was p value 0.05. The chi square test of association was used where appropriate.RESULTS.About 60% of the mothers were aged between 26-35 years; most mothers (84.3%) perceived teething to be associated with various symptoms while 15.7% did not. The commonest problems reported were fever (63.2%) and diarrhoea (47.5%). There was no statistically significant association between perception of teething problems and education; and age of the mothers. About 42.4% believed the symptoms were not serious and would not take the child to the hospital. Various remedies were used by mothers including 'My Pikin' teething mixture in 13.2% of cases.CONCLUSION.Mothers beliefs and attitude about teething has serious health implications for management of common childhood illnesses. There is a need for proper oral health education of mothers during the antenatal period to discourage the use of teething as a ready explanation for childhood diseases

Knowledge; Attitude; and Perception of Teething Myths among Medical Doctors in Nigerian Hospitals

Background: Teething commences in children from the age of 6 to 8 months; however; it has been wrongly associated with systemic symptoms such as fever; diarrhea; vomiting by parents and health workers; this study hopes to determine the perception of doctors toward teething in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This was cross-sectional descriptive study. Convince sampling technique was used to select 139 doctors who consented to participate in the study. Results: There were 116 males and 23 females with male to female ratio of 5:1. Fifty-nine (42.4%) of the subjects believed teething was associated with at least one symptom while 80 (57.6%) of them disagreed. Twenty-two (15.8%) of them got information on teething from their parents; 3 (2.2%) from their grand-parents; 61 (43.9%) was from school; 5 (3.6%) was from friends while 18 (12.9%); and 30 (21.6%) were from patients and their personal experiences; respectively. Seventy-nine (56.8%) did not believe in seeking for medical care for teething; while 60 (43.2%) believe in seeking for medical care for teething complaints. Ninety-six (69.1%) of the subjects will not prescribe any medication for teething; 18 (12.9%) prescribed paracetamol for teething; 10 (7.2%) prescribed antibiotics for teething; 8 (5.8%) prescribe teething powder; 3 (2.2%) prescribed teething ring; and 2 (1.4%) prescribe clean cloth usage and teething syrup; respectively. Thirty-eight (27.4%) believed teething remedies works; 99 (71.2%) of the subjects did not believed it works while 2 (1.4%) were not sure of its efficacy. Conclusion: Doctors still believe that teething is associated with systemic illnesses; therefore continuous medical education is of importance in ensuring the eradication of these myths

Teething Myths among Nursing Mothers in a Nigerian Community

"Many symptoms had been associated with teething in children with the possibility of overlooking potentially fatal condition. Symptoms that had been associated with teething include diarrhoea; fever; vomiting and cough. The possibility that any of these symptoms could have been due to other causes call for thorough investigation of the child before concluding that it is only ""teething"". Objectives: The study was carried out to assess the beliefs of nursing mothers concerning symptoms that are associated with teething among children and to identify those that would seek medical treatments in case of their children having such symptoms during teething. Materials and Methods: Two hundred and ninety nursing mothers whose children had erupted at least a tooth were interviewed in the immunisation clinics of the University College Hospital and Adeoyo Maternity Teaching Hospital; both in Ibadan; Nigeria; on their beliefs and practice concerning teething in children. Results: One hundred and eighty-eight (64.8) of the mothers associated symptoms such as fever; cough; catarrh and diarrhoea with eruption of teeth in their children. Over half of the women agreed that a child having either fever (51.0); ear infection (57.6) or cough (50.3) should be promptly taken for medical consultation and not be tagged ""teething""; while for other symptoms such as gum pain (74.5); sleepless night (56.6); vomiting (51.4) and diarrhoea (51.7); over half of the mothers believed that the symptoms will resolve following the eruption of the teeth. Conclusion: The study demonstrated that mothers in the study attributes several symptoms to teething; which could be detrimental to the survival of their children as the symptom could have been due to other causes. There is; therefore; need for public enlightenment to create awareness on the possible effect of presumptuous belief that childhood diseases are due to teething process."