ABSTRACT
Background: Teething has been associated with varieties of childhood illnesses. Traditional uvulectomy has been an ongoing practice in some societies. Both teething and traditional uvulectomy have strong linkage to beliefs, values and practices. This study aimed at documenting the awareness and perception of society regarding traditional uvulectomy and beliefs about teething in Tanzania. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in central region of Tanzania, encompassing adult population, who were obtained by stratified two stage sampling technique. The oldest person per household was interviewed. A questionnaire consisting of questions regarding traditional uvulectomy and beliefs about teething was used to collect data. Analysis of data was done using computer program SPSS version 19 whereby the level of significance for Chi-square was set at p-value of ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 371 participants were included and of these, 90.3% believed that long uvula may cause ill health. The notion of prolonged cough indicates unhealthy uvula was found in 86.8% of participants. With regard to teething, 60.6% considered a child born with teeth means a curse in family. Symptoms that are perceived to be caused by teething include diarrhoea (84.6%) and fever (54.4%). Other reported symptoms include drooling of saliva, crying vomiting and irritability. Conclusion: Majority of society members still link illnesses in children with either elongated uvula and/or teething. Awareness on traditional ways of treating diseased uvula may be detrimental as people’s awareness tends to influence their practice. Deliberate efforts should be put forward to educate pregnant women during their visits to antenatal and natal clinics especially in the rural areas regarding oral health of children.
ABSTRACT
Background: Misconceptions about causation and management of diseases are common in societies, thereby affecting health seeking behavior, including for oral diseases. Thus, this study aimed at determining the misconceptions on causes and management of dental caries in central Tanzanian society. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in central zone of Tanzania, comprising of people aged 18 years and above, who were obtained by stratified two stage sampling technique. The oldest person per household was interviewed. A questionnaire consisting of questions regarding misconception on causes and management of dental caries, use of local remedies and treatment seeking behaviour was used to collect data. Analysis of data was done using computer program SPSS version 19 whereby the level of significance for Chi-square was set at p-value of ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 371 participants were included. There were more female participants with male to female ratio of 0.8:1. The age range of respondents was 18 to 81 years with mean age of 38.04 ±13.2 years. The overall incidence of misconception was 87%. With regards to age, sex, and marital status; the misconceptions were more prevalent in females, older adults and those who ever married. The most common misconception was “extraction of upper jaw teeth can lead to head swelling and death”. Conclusion: Misconceptions concerning dental caries and its management are very widespread in Tanzanian society. They are more common amongst those who have ever married and older adults. Use of local remedies is very common amongst individuals of all walks of life.