Cultural and traditional oral practices: implications on oral health of a Kenyan cohort of Maasai adolescents

Abstract

Background: This is a review of a study carried out in Maasai Mara schools in January 2016. The project formed a part of “The Maasai Mara Science and Development Initiative” (MMSDI). We examined school children in the Maasai Mara North Conservancy for extraction of permanent mandibular incisors and primary canines, which form part of a long-held tradition in the Maasai community in Kenya.

Objective: Review information on oral hygiene habits and examination of study participants, their oral hygiene procedures, and the presence of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Aggregatibacter aphrophilus in their oral cavities.

Data sources: Three publications in 2018 and 2021 on traditional dental practices, the prevalence of JP2/Non-JP2 Genotypes of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and A. aphrophilus, and inhibition of leukotoxic activity by herbal plants used in oral hygiene procedures by children from Maasai Mara.

Results and conclusions: The results obtained indicated that of the 284 participants used in the three studies, 61% of them had had their primary canines extracted, among whom a majority (95%) had two mandibular central incisors missing. The microbiological findings in saliva and plaque samples harvested from the participants revealed that 72% of the oral samples had A. actinomycetemcomitans, with three of them being positive for the highly leukotoxic JP2 genotype of this bacterium. The prevalence of A. aphrophilus was even higher, which may affect the virulence potential of A. actinomycetemcomitans. Most of the adolescents used commercial toothbrushes and toothpaste for their oral hygiene practice, but also plant-derived chewing sticks for daily teeth cleaning. Interestingly, all the participants used Warburgia ugandensis as the material for chewing stick, and in vitro tests showed that its extract efficiently neutralized the leukotoxin that is expressed by A. actinomycetemcomitans.