ORIGINAL: Dental Caries, Traumatic Dental Injuries and Gingivitis among Street-Children in Kano, Nigeria

West Afr J Med . 2022 Oct 20;39(10):1040-1044.

Abstract

Background: Street-children (Almajirai) constitute a significant proportion of the adolescent population in northern Nigeria. They face health challenges, especially oral health, from being inadequately protected, supervised or directed by responsible adults.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence of dental caries, dental trauma, gingivitis and oral hygiene scores in street-children.

Methodology: Three hundred and sixty-six school-aged children were selected through a multi-stage sampling of 10 to 12-year-old children from four modern and traditional qur'anic schools, and examined for oral conditions using the WHO protocol. The DMFT index, the modified Ellis criteria, the Gingival Bleeding Index and the Oral Hygiene Index-Simplified (OHI-S) were used to assess dental caries, traumatic dental injuries, gingivitis and oral hygiene scores respectively. Chi-squared tests and Odds Ratio were used to compare the difference and test the association between Almajirai groups. Data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 20). Statistical significance was considered when p < 0.05.

Results: One hundred and sixty eight (45.9%) traditional Almajirai and 198 (59.4%) modern-type Almajirai, participated in the study. Their mean age was 10.8(±0.8) years. The prevalence of dental caries was 25.4% with mean DMFT and SiC scores of 0.6 (±1.3) and 1.7 respectively. DMFT scores ranged from 0 to 12. The prevalence of traumatic dental injuries and gingivitis were 8.7% and 82.2% respectively, while the OHI-S score was 3.0. The odds for traumatic dental injuries were 41% less in the modern-type Almajirai (p=0.02); the modern-type Almajirai were twice as likely to develop gingivitis (aOR 95%CI =2.0, p=0.01). OHI-S scores showed poorer oral hygiene levels in the modern Almajirai (p=0.02).

Conclusion: Dental caries, traumatic dental injuries, gingivitis and poor oral hygiene were prevalent among street-children in Kano. There is a high level of untreated dental disease in the study population.

Keywords: Adolescents; Almajirai; Caries; Gingivitis; Oral hygiene; Street-children.

C C Okolo ¹, F A Oredugba ², O O Denloye ³, Y I Adeyemo ¹