ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The correlation between knowledge of dental care knowledge and its practice varies among the different health professionals. AIM: The aim of the following study is to assess the knowledge and practice of health workers in a private medical health facility on dental care. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on the health workers in Faith Medical Center, Benin City, Nigeria. A self-administered questionnaire, containing 31 open and closed questions was used for data collection to assess their knowledge and practice of dental care. The data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0 (Chicago, IL, USA) and WIN PEPI software version 11.15. RESULTS: None of the respondents had a poor knowledge of dental care, but majority had poor practice. The pattern of distribution of knowledge and practice of dental care observed in this study was not significantly affected by age, gender, occupation and working experience. The entire respondents knew that bleeding from the gum is not normal and 96.2% (75/78) gave correct causes of bleeding gums. Majority 88.5% (69/78) also knew that tooth decay is not normal, but fewer 66.6% (52/78) knew the correct causes of tooth decay. Only 37.2% (29/75) of the respondents took correct action after experiencing a toothache (i.e., consulting a dentist for proper management) and majority 80.8% (63/78) and 76.1% (60/78) still make use of toothpicks, which is considered as potentially harmful and frequently consume cariogenic diet respectively. CONCLUSION: There is a good knowledge of dental care, but poor oral health practices among the studied health workers. Oral health education to correct their improper practices is therefore highly advocated.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The training of dental students in the management of medical emergencies is of utmost importance as they may encounter some of these emergencies at some point in their career. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the medical emergency education in a Nigerian Dental School. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 124 final year dental students of the University of Benin, Benin City. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire elicited information on demography, knowledge of inclusion of a medical emergency in the dental curriculum, knowledge of guidelines on medical emergency formulated by any dental authority, opinion on the comprehensiveness of the present training on medical emergency, type of medical emergency training received, previous encounter with a medical emergency, previous participation in emergency drills and knowledge of the content of an emergency kit. Descriptive statistics was carried out on the collected data. RESULTS: Only 58.1% (72/124) respondents were aware of the inclusion of a medical emergency in the dental curriculum and fewer, 17.7% (22/124), were aware of guidelines on medical emergency formulated by any dental authority. Fifty-two out of all the respondents (41.9%) claimed not to have received any form of training on medical emergency. Only 22.6% (28/123) had previously participated in an emergency drills and just 34.7% (43/124) had ever seen an emergency kit. CONCLUSIONS: It can be concluded from this study that the level of training and level of knowledge on medical emergencies of the studied dental students is below desirable standard. It is therefore necessary to put proper strategies in place to strengthen their identified areas of weakness.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The major goal of non-surgical periodontal therapy is to reduce or eliminate the subgingival pathogenic microbial flora that is known to be associated with volatile sulfur compounds (VSC). AIM: The aim of this study was, therefore, to determine the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy on the concentration of VSC in mouth air of young adults. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Four hundred subjects, grouped into two based on the absence or presence of periodontal diseases, were involved in this study. Basic periodontal examination was used for the grouping. The measurement of the concentration of the VSC in the mouth air of the subjects was done objectively, using the Halimeter, before and after the therapy, and at recall visits 2 weeks and 6 weeks after therapy. Chi-square and Paired t-test were used to find statistical significance. RESULTS: The results revealed that at baseline, 78.7% (48/61) of the subjects who had VSC concentration more than 250 parts per billion (ppb) were from the group with periodontal disease. Immediately after non-surgical periodontal therapy, only 8.5% (17/200) of the subjects with periodontal disease had VSC concentration of more than 250 ppb while all the subjects with no periodontal disease had VSC concentration less than 181 ppb. The same pattern of reduction in the concentration of the VSC and improvement in oral hygiene was also obtained 2 weeks and 6 weeks after therapy. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that non-surgical periodontal therapy brought about reduction in the concentration of volatile sulfur compounds in mouth air of young adults.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The development of success-oriented hepatitis-B vaccine uptake approach among dental surgeons is dependent on the availability of comprehensive baseline data. OBJECTIVE: To determine the hepatitis-B vaccination status among dental surgeons in Benin City. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of dental surgeons in Benin City was conducted in May 2011. The questionnaire elicited information on demography, occupational risk rating of contracting hepatitis-B infection, hepatitis-B vaccination status, barriers to uptake of hepatitis vaccine, and suggestions on how to improve hepatitis-B vaccination rates among dental surgeons. RESULTS: Participation rate in the study was 93.3%. More than half (51.4%) of the respondents were 20-30 years old and 52 (74.3%) were males. The occupational risk of contracting hepatitis-B infection among dental surgeons was rated as either high or very high by 51 (72.9%) of the respondents. Amongst the respondents, 14 (20.0%) had received three doses of the hepatitis-B vaccine, 34 (48.6%) either two doses or a single dose, and 22 (31.4%) were not vaccinated. The major barriers reported among the respondents who were not vaccinated were lack of opportunity and the fear of side effects of the vaccines. The suggested ways to increase the vaccination rate among the respondents in descending order include: Making the vaccine available at no cost (51.4%), educating dentists on the merits of vaccination (17.1%), and using the evidence of vaccination as a requirement for annual practicing license renewal (14.3%) and for the employment of dental surgeons (11.4%) and others (2.9%). CONCLUSION: This study revealed low prevalence of complete hepatitis-B vaccination among the respondents. Improvement in uptake following the respondents' recommendations will serve as a template in developing success-oriented strategies among stakeholders.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The roles of physicians in oral healthcare delivery are very important due to the unequal distribution of the low oral health manpower as well as the lack of awareness of patients concerning the treatment of oral health problems by dentists in Nigeria. AIM: To assess the Nigerian clinical level medical students' knowledge of dental problems and conditions in relation to the dental specialty that treat them. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of clinical level medical students of University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria, was conducted between May and June, 2010. The knowledge of the students was graded as good (16-20), fair (8-15), and poor (<8). RESULTS: Out of the 350 questionnaires distributed, 279 were filled and returned giving an overall response rate of 79.7% (279/350). Of these, 47.0% (131/279), 50.2% (140/279), and 2.8% (8/279) of respondents showed poor, fair and good knowledge respectively. The trend showed a statistically significant increase in the mean level of knowledge of dental specialty with an ascent in the clinical level (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge of dental specialty in this survey was suboptimal and varied with different specialties which may have adverse implication in future patient care. The variation in the level of knowledge with different clinical level suggested gain in knowledge about dental specialty mainly through nonformal means among medical students.
