Description Of Oral Health Status And Dental Needs Of The University Of Lagos Community

Abstract

Background: Good oral hygiene practices invariably lead to good oral health coupled with the availability of affordable and accessible oral health care facilities. In the absence of these, there abound myriads of oral health issues ranging from malocclusion to dental pain.
Objective: The aim of this study is to describe the pattern of oral health issues and dental needs of members of the university of Lagos main campus community.
Methods: Across-sectional study using convenience sampling of members of the university who attended the medical centre's health week. Data was collected via interviewer administered questionnaire as well as oral examination. The OHI-S and DMFT Indices were
used to calculate oral hygiene status and burden of caries respectively.
Results: a total of 114 persons participated in the study, 92% were staff/students of the university and 66% of participants were females. Prevalence of dental caries was 32.1% while 95.6% showed clinical signs of chronic gingivitis. Only 44% of respondents had clinically good oral hygiene status while only 26% of respondents brushed their teeth twice a week. Dental needs varied from poor oral hygiene to gingival recession and dental caries. As low as 20% reported visiting the dentist in the past year. In addition, 86% reported willingness to utilize the dentist if a facility was present within the premises of the main campus.
Conclusion: There is an obvious need for the presence of a dental facility within the university premises as there are a myriad of oral health issues among the members of the University community.

Keywords: oral hygiene status, OHI-S, university community, dental needs, utilization.