Oral health promotion and health education programmes for Nigeria - policy guidelines

"Nigeria like other developing countries is presently faced with the arduous problem of coping with scarce resources to control existing and increasing oral disease levels. The World Health Organization emphasized the importance of oral health promotion for initiating successful; effective; preventive oral health programmes. At present however; Nigeria is without formal oral health promotion and health education policies or programmes. In the ""National Policy and Strategy to Achieve Health for All Nigerians"" (Federal Ministry of Health 1986); no specific mention was made or oral health promotion or oral health education. The present paper therefore proposes definitive policy guidelines that will help in the development of coherent oral health promotion programmes for the country. The approach proposed tackles causes common to a number of chronic diseases and incorporates oral health into general health strategies."

A preliminary study of the periodontal status and treatment needs of elderly Nigerian subjects

One hundred elderly subjects comprising of residents of old peoples homes and patients attending routine outpatients clinic at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital were examined in Lagos. The mean age of subjects was 68.7 years. Using the Community Periodontal Index of Treatment Needs (CPITN) it was found that 23had tooth deposits (plaque/calculus only) whilst 70had shallow or deep pockets. 87of these elderly subjects were caries-free and none had restored or filled teeth. However; more than half of the subjects had an average missing teeth number of 8.829of the subjects needed extraction with an average of 3.3 teeth. Among the subjects that needed dental extraction; none had healthy periodontal condition whereas; 79of them were caries free