ABSTRACT
CONTEXT: Torus mandibularis (TM) and torus palatinus (TP) are believed to occur commonly among black Africans. There is a dearth of literature on Nigerians. The few reported studies were done in the South-West Nigeria. This is the first report of the prevalence of tori among the Ibo-speaking ethnic group in the South-East Nigeria. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This is a prospective cross-sectional study of 3000 subjects of Ibo ethnic extraction attending a dental clinic in Enugu, South-East Nigeria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three thousand subjects were examined for the isolated and concurrent occurrence of TM and TP. The subjects were seen over a 4-year period. The age, sex, ethnic group, type of tori based on location, and symptomatic awareness of tori presence were documented. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data were analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17. The level of significance was P< 0.05. The Chi-square test showed no statistically significant difference between gender and type of tori (P = 0.34). Similarly, there was no statistically significant difference between the age groups and type of tori (P = 0.38). RESULTS: Two hundred and ninety-two subjects were clinically diagnosed with tori, of which females constituted 88%, and males constituted 12%. Isolated TM occurred in 56.8% (166 of 292) subjects, isolated TP in 17.5% (51 of 292) subjects, and concurrent tori (TM and TP) in 25.7% (75 of 292) subjects. The peak occurrence was in the fifth decade. The overall prevalence was 9.7%. The prevalences of TM (isolated and concurrent) and TP (isolated and concurrent) were 8.0% and 4.2%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence values are within the range of values reported in other Nigerian studies but differ widely with values from other ethnic groups from other countries.