Compendium of Oral Pathologies in Children Presenting to A Tertiary Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Oral diseases are one of the most common non-communicable diseases. They are also the most neglected particularly in children.
Objective: To determine the pattern and trend of oral diseases among children who presented in the dental clinic of a Nigerian Tertiary hospital over 58 months.
Methodology: A retrospective study that assessed for oral diseases among children using the dental health records.
Results: 1104 cases presented at the dental clinic, comprising 546 males and 558 females with a ratio of 1:1.02. The mean age of the subjects was 10.6 years ± 4.2 with an age range of 1 month to 17 years. Close to ninety-eight percent of cases reviewed were symptomatic. Across all age groups, dental caries and its sequalae was observed in 62.2% of cases and this was independent of age group and year of presentation (p<0.0001).
Conclusion: An increasing trend of oral diseases was observed annually with the leading diagnosis been dental caries and its sequalae.