Occurrence of midline diastema and frenum attachments amongst school children in Nairobi, Kenya.

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of midline diastema, tongue tie and frenum attachments amongst school children in Nairobi. A total of 1802 children aged between 4 and 16 years were selected randomly using multistage sampling technique. To avoid oversampling in either sex, a proportionate sampling procedure was used. Thereafter, a thorough intra-oral examination was carried out using a mouth mirror under artificial or natural light with the children lying on a supine position. Presence or absence of midline interdental spaces unusually bigger than other interdental spaces were noted and recorded on a prepared dateacollection form. Accurate location of the origin of the frenum was done using Placek et al Morphological-functional classification of the labial frenum attachments. Data was analyzed manually by tally method. Results showed that 35% had upper and lower midline diastema. 55% were females and 45% were males. Their mean age was 7.6 years. 0.2% had a high lingual frenum. The commonest location of frenum attachment amongst children with lower midline diastema was the mucogingival junction (86%) whereas amongst those with upper midline diastema it was attached gingiva (50%). None of the children had frenum attachment on the interdental papilla. It was concluded that the maxilla had a higher prevalence of midline diastema than the mandible and that papillary penetrating frenum attachments amongst these patients were higher in the maxilla than the mandible.

Periodontal health status of patients attending Diabetic Clinic at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.

The periodontal health status of diabetic patients and the association between periodontal disease and treatment mode, age and duration of diabetes were investigated in 86 dentulous men and women aged between 20 years and 69 years. 43 were diabetics regularly controlled at Kenyatta National Hospital Diabetic Clinic and 43 were non-diabetics attending medical outpatient clinic at the same hospital for minor ailments. Diabetic patients were found to have significant severer levels of periodontal disease than the non-diabetics. The difference persisted with increasing age. No correlation was found between treatment mode and duration of diabetes on one hand and the severity of periodontal disease on the other.

Knowledge on treatment modalities and attitude of Nairobi University students towards dental care.

The objective of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitude of Nairobi University students towards dental health care in Kenya. A self administered questionnaire given to 400 students in person who responded and handed them over immediately. The students had a mean age of 22.4 years, 45.3% were males and 54.5% were females. Extractions, restorations and replacement of teeth were known to majority of the students. However, almost half of the students preferred extraction to restoration and 49.2% considered restoration of deciduous teeth unnecessary. 79% indicated that they would undergo scaling. It is therefore recommended that an effective mode of transmitting positive information about various dental treatment modalities be established.

Knowledge; Attitudes and Practices Towards HIV Positive and AIDS Patients among Public Service Dentists in Nairobi

The purpose of this study was to assess the knowledge; practices and attitudes towards HIV Positive/AIDS patients among 112 dentists from public institutions in Nairobi using a self-administered questionnaire. 94(83.9) responded. Over 74had managed HIV positive/AIDS patients. In general; respondents' knowledge and preventive measures against HIV infection were satisfactory. 8.5did not find use of protective eye wear absolutely necessary. 33used protective covers routinely. 52.1advocated for the screening of all suspected cases of AIDS before treatment. 27.7felt that HIV positive health workers and those with AIDS should not be allowed to treat patients. 53.2felt that they should be given the right to decide on treating HIV Positive/AIDS patients. 10.6supported the idea that AIDS patients be isolated from uninfected individuals. It is concluded that a substantial number of dentists were wanting in their attitudes towards HIV positive/AIDS patients

The nature of malocclusions of patients attending orthodontic department of the University of Nairobi: a retrospective study

The objectives of this study were to determine the distribution and proportion of malocclusions among patients aged 6-18 years who attended the orthodontics department of the University of Nairobi between 1984 and 1987 and to find out whether the distribution of various types of malocclusions was related to age and sex of the patients. Results showed that there were more males (52.4 per cent) who attended the orthodontics clinic than females (47.6 per cent). Angle's class 1 malacclusion was more common than other types of malocclusions. Angle's 2 division 2 was the least encountered malocclusion. 13-18 years old tended to have a slightly higher prevalence of class 2 division 2 malocclusion than the 6-12 years old. There were no significant sex differences in the distribution of different types of malocclusions. Anterior crowding was the highest (88.9 per cent) in both sexes while crowding in the posterior segment was least encountered. There were no significant sex differences in the prevalence of overbite and overjet. It was concluded that the distribution and types of malocclusions among the 6-18 years old kenyans reflected the general pattern of malocclusion in many parts of Africa

Cancrum oris : a case report

Cancrum oris cases are occasionally treated in various hospitals in Kenya. Despite this; none of these cases have been have reported in literature. Besides; no epidemiological or treatment studies of cancrum oris have been carried out in Kenya. The authors report for the first time an unusual case of cancrum oris of a 2 year old Kenyan male which failed to respond to treatment after it was discovered at its early stages before involving the facial skeleton. Since most cancrum oris cases are a sequela of acute necrotizing gingivitis (ANG); prevention of cancrum oris can be achieved by early and prompt remedial measures once a diagnosis of ANG is established. Failure to do this might lead to cancrum oris with its attendant disfiguring complications; some of which might be impossible to treat in developing countries where the requisite personnel is lacking or inadequate

Inappropriateness of the term "periodontal disease".

Traditionally, diseases that affect the periodontium have over the years been referred to as periodontal disease. This implies that these diseases are a single disease entity or only one disease, "periodontal disease," affects the periodontium. To date, dental literature is replete with several diseases that affect the periodontium. Most of these diseases exhibit unique bacteriological, immunological, biochemical and clinical features. It is these characteristics that qualify them to be regarded as individual or different disease entities. Biased by these recent reports on distinct diseases that affect the periodontium, several dental authors have written articles where they have preferred the term "periodontal diseases" to "periodontal disease," when discussing and reporting on the diseases that affect the periodontium. This paper suggests and discusses the reasons why scientists have continued to use the term periodontal disease and presents arguments why this terminology is inappropriate. It is suggested that the term "periodontal disease" be replaced by the term "periodontal diseases".

A comparative study on the periodontal health status of adult populations of Kenya and India.

The purpose of this study was to compare the oral hygiene and periodontal health status of 497 randomly selected Kenyan and Indian adult populations aged between 20 and 35 years. Oral hygiene and periodontal health status were assessed using Silness and Loe plaque Index and Russel's Periodontal Index respectively. Results revealed that the overall mean plaque and periodontal index scores of Kenyan participants were significantly lower than those of Indians. Increase of mean Periodontal index with age was found to be significant among Kenyan participants and insignificant among Indian participants Kenyan female participants were found to have significant lower mean plaque and periodontal index scores than males. However, the mean periodontal index score of Indian male participants was found to be lower than that of female participants. It is concluded that Kenyan participants had better periodontal and oral hygiene status than Indian participants and that Indian females unlike Kenyan females had poorer periodontal health status than male.