ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Parents are often concerned about their children's nonnutritive sucking (NNS) habits and may institute mechanisms to try to break them. AIM: The study identified various methods instituted by mothers resident in a suburban Nigeria to break NNS habits of children, reasons for wanting to break the habit, and the association between instituted methods and sociodemographic profile of the mothers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The data of 129 mothers of children aged 4 years to 12 years who had NNS habits at the time of conducting a household survey were analyzed. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Tests of associations were conducted to determine the association between maternal age and level of education and methods employed to break child's NNS habits. RESULTS: Eighty-four mothers (65.1%) made efforts to break the habit. Habit persisting to older age was the main concern. The most common method employed for breaking habits was punishing the child (54.8%).Only 7 (20.0%) mothers who were concerned about NNS habit(s) sought professional advice. A greater though insignificant percentage of mothers in the 25-34 years age group (57.2%; P = 0.48) and those with secondary school level of education (56.0%; P = 0.12) made efforts to break their children's NNS habits. CONCLUSIONS: The majority of mothers were concerned about their children's NNS habits. However, very few concerned mothers sought professional advice. Efforts need to be made to improve the public awareness about the availability of professional services for managing NNS habits and potential impact of employing nonprofessional methods to break habits.
Subject(s)
Fingersucking/therapy , Habits , Mother-Child Relations , Mothers/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Awareness , Child , Child, Preschool , Educational Status , Female , Health Resources , Health Services , Humans , Infant , Male , Nigeria , Suburban PopulationABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The objective of the study was to evaluate changes in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) during fixed appliance therapy. METHODS: Sixty-one patients requiring fixed appliance therapy participated in the study. OHRQoL was assessed in all participants using the United Kingdom Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL-UK) tool and the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ), at baseline (T0), 1 week (T1), 1 month (T2), 3 months (T3), and 6 months (T4), after appliance placement. Friedman 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare the changes at the P<0.05 significance level. RESULTS: There was a significant deterioration in OHRQoL in the first week of treatment based on the OHRQoL-UK measure (P=0.01). The PIDAQ, however, showed significant improvement in OHRQoL throughout the study period (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Fixed orthodontic appliance therapy can significantly improve the OHRQoL of individuals.
Subject(s)
Oral Health , Orthodontic Appliances, Fixed , Orthodontics, Corrective/psychology , Quality of Life , Adolescent , Adult , Child , Esthetics, Dental , Female , Humans , Longitudinal Studies , Male , Malocclusion/therapy , Middle Aged , Nigeria , Orthodontic Appliances , Prospective Studies , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Non-nutritive sucking (NNS) is a common behavior in childhood. The association between digit sucking, dental caries and oral health has been studied with inconclusive results. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of, and the association between digit sucking, caries and oral hygiene status of children age six months to 12 years, resident in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State. Data were collected through a household survey using a multi-stage sampling procedure from children between six months and 12 years. Details of each child's socio-demographic characteristics, digit sucking habits, caries status and oral health status were collected. The association between digit sucking, caries status and oral hygiene status was determined using Chi square and Logistic regression. RESULTS: The mean age of the 992 study participants was 5.8 ± (3.2) years. The prevalence of digit sucking, caries and poor oral hygiene were 7.2%, 10.5% and 2.4% respectively. The mean dmft score was 0.22 ± (0.80), mean DMFT score was 0.04 ± (0.30) while mean Oral Hygiene Index score was 1.27 ± (0.73). Digit sucking increased the odds of having caries (OR: 1.28; CI: 0.58-2.81) but decreased the odds of having poor oral hygiene (OR: 0.58; CI: 0.34-1.01) insignificantly. CONCLUSIONS: Digit sucking was not a significant predictor of caries and oral hygiene status, although the odds of having caries increased while the odds of having poor oral hygiene decreased with digit sucking.
