Central African Journal of Public Health

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Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria

Received: 09 August 2019    Accepted: 06 September 2019    Published: 09 October 2019
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Abstract

The study investigated the oral hygiene practices and prevalence of dental carries among school children (6 – 12 years) in Niger State, Nigeria. A total of 477 pupils constituting 246 boys and 231 girls were used in the study. Stratified randomly sampling was used in selecting pupils from 9 public primary schools based on high, middle and low socio –economic levels. Data obtained from this study was analysed using percentages and Chi-Square statistic at 0.05 level of significance. Results of the study revealed that, the practice of toothbrushing was not statisfactory among pupils for the reason that a large numbers of pupils 202 (42.3%) did not brush their teeth at all. Also the prevalence and the number of dental caries were greater in the pupils of low socio-economic areas (66.5%) than the others. The high and middle socio-economic areas had a similar overall prevalence of dental caries of 59.4% and 60.1% respectively. Toothbrushing behavior among the pupils was strongly related to the parental education and their socio economic statuses however, there was no statistical significance in the prevalence of dental caries among the socio-economic groups. Health education programmes such as, brushing of teeth twice daily, especially at night before going to bed to improve oral hygiene practices was therefore recommended.

DOI 10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16
Published in Central African Journal of Public Health (Volume 5, Issue 5, October 2019)
Page(s) 217-220
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Oral, Dental, School Children, Hygiene, Prevalence

References
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[2] Adeleke, W (1998). Care of baby teeth. Lagos: Adadis publisher.
[3] Adekoya-Sofowora CA, Nasir WO, Oginni AO, Taiwo M. Dental caries in 12-year-old suburban Nigerian school children. Afr Health Sci 2006; 6: 145-50. Back to cited text no. 1.
[4] Okolo S, Chukwu G, Egbuonu I, Ezeogu F, Onwuanaku C, Adeleke O, et al. Oral hygiene and nutritional status of children aged 1-7 years in a rural community. Ghana Med J 2006; 40: 22-5. Back to cited text no. 2.
[5] Sofola OO. Implications of low oral health awareness in Nigeria. Niger Med J 2010; 51: 131-3. Back to cited text no. 3.
[6] Maserejian N. N., Tavares, M. A., Hayes, C., Soncini, J. A., & Trachtenberg, F. L. (2008). Rural and urban disparities in caries prevalence in children with unmet dental needs: The New England children's amalgam trial. J Public Health Dent 2008; 68: 7-13.
[7] Petersen, P. E., Bourgeois, D., Ogawa, H., Estupinan-Day, S. & Ndiaye, C. (2005). “The global burden of oral diseases and risks to oral health,” Bulletin of the World Health Organization, vol. 83, no. 9, pp. 661–669, 2005. View at Google Scholar View at Scopus.
[8] World Health Organization (2003). The World Oral Health Report, 2003, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, 2003.
[9] Fejerskov, O. (2003). Concepts of dental caries and their consequences for understanding the disease. Community Dentistry and Epidemonology, 29, 15-22.
[10] Sheiham, A. (2002). Dental caries in underdeveloped countries. In Guggenheim, B (Ed.) Cariology today. p 33-39. Basel: Karger Press.
[11] WHO (2004). Preventive methods and programmes for oral diseases. Geneva World Health Organization, (WHO Technical Report Series, No. 713). http://www.who.ch.
[12] Tamari J. W (1994). An assessment of oral disease among primary school children in Lebanon. I. Assessment of dental caries. International Dental Journal, 24, 407-415.
[13] Legler, D. W.; Al-Alousi, W & Jamison, H. C. (1996). Dental caries prevalence in secondary school children in Iraq. Journal of Dental Research, 67, 1998-2004.
[14] Holt, R; Joels, D & Winter, GB (1992). Caries in preschool children. The Camden study. British Dental Journal, 153, 107-109.
[15] Olsson, B. (1999). Dental health situation in privileged children in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Community Dentistry and Oraal Epidemiology, 9, 71-76.
[16] WHO (1997). Oral health surveys. Basic methods, (5th Ed), Alexandria, World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 8-9.
[17] Truin, G. J; Konig, K. C. & Kalsbeek, H. (1993). Trends in dental caries in the Netherlands. Advances in dental Research, 7, 1, 15-8.
Author Information
  • Department of Physical and Health Education, Federal Collage of Education Kontagora, Kontagora, Nigeria

  • Department of Physics, Federal College of Education Kontagora, Kontagora, Nigeria

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    Mohammed Aliyu, Benedict Ubawike Akano. (2019). Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria. Central African Journal of Public Health, 5(5), 217-220. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16

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    Mohammed Aliyu; Benedict Ubawike Akano. Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria. Cent. Afr. J. Public Health 2019, 5(5), 217-220. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16

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    AMA Style

    Mohammed Aliyu, Benedict Ubawike Akano. Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria. Cent Afr J Public Health. 2019;5(5):217-220. doi: 10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16,
      author = {Mohammed Aliyu and Benedict Ubawike Akano},
      title = {Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria},
      journal = {Central African Journal of Public Health},
      volume = {5},
      number = {5},
      pages = {217-220},
      doi = {10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.cajph.20190505.16},
      abstract = {The study investigated the oral hygiene practices and prevalence of dental carries among school children (6 – 12 years) in Niger State, Nigeria. A total of 477 pupils constituting 246 boys and 231 girls were used in the study. Stratified randomly sampling was used in selecting pupils from 9 public primary schools based on high, middle and low socio –economic levels. Data obtained from this study was analysed using percentages and Chi-Square statistic at 0.05 level of significance. Results of the study revealed that, the practice of toothbrushing was not statisfactory among pupils for the reason that a large numbers of pupils 202 (42.3%) did not brush their teeth at all. Also the prevalence and the number of dental caries were greater in the pupils of low socio-economic areas (66.5%) than the others. The high and middle socio-economic areas had a similar overall prevalence of dental caries of 59.4% and 60.1% respectively. Toothbrushing behavior among the pupils was strongly related to the parental education and their socio economic statuses however, there was no statistical significance in the prevalence of dental caries among the socio-economic groups. Health education programmes such as, brushing of teeth twice daily, especially at night before going to bed to improve oral hygiene practices was therefore recommended.},
     year = {2019}
    }
    

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    T1  - Oral Hygiene Practices and Prevalence of Dental Caries Among School Children in Niger State, Nigeria
    AU  - Mohammed Aliyu
    AU  - Benedict Ubawike Akano
    Y1  - 2019/10/09
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.cajph.20190505.16
    T2  - Central African Journal of Public Health
    JF  - Central African Journal of Public Health
    JO  - Central African Journal of Public Health
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - The study investigated the oral hygiene practices and prevalence of dental carries among school children (6 – 12 years) in Niger State, Nigeria. A total of 477 pupils constituting 246 boys and 231 girls were used in the study. Stratified randomly sampling was used in selecting pupils from 9 public primary schools based on high, middle and low socio –economic levels. Data obtained from this study was analysed using percentages and Chi-Square statistic at 0.05 level of significance. Results of the study revealed that, the practice of toothbrushing was not statisfactory among pupils for the reason that a large numbers of pupils 202 (42.3%) did not brush their teeth at all. Also the prevalence and the number of dental caries were greater in the pupils of low socio-economic areas (66.5%) than the others. The high and middle socio-economic areas had a similar overall prevalence of dental caries of 59.4% and 60.1% respectively. Toothbrushing behavior among the pupils was strongly related to the parental education and their socio economic statuses however, there was no statistical significance in the prevalence of dental caries among the socio-economic groups. Health education programmes such as, brushing of teeth twice daily, especially at night before going to bed to improve oral hygiene practices was therefore recommended.
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