Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Mar 15:5.
doi: 10.3402/ljm.v5i0.4859.

Perceived oral health status and treatment needs of dental auxiliaries

Clement C Azodo  1 , Adebola O Ehizele, Agnes Umoh, Patrick I Ojehanon, Osagie Akhionbare, Robinson Okechukwu, Lawrence Igbinosa
Affiliations

Perceived oral health status and treatment needs of dental auxiliaries

Clement C Azodo et al. Libyan J Med. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine the perceived oral health status and treatment needs of Nigerian dental therapists in training and dental technology students.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study of students from Federal School of Dental Therapy and Technology Enugu, Nigeria was conducted using self-administered questionnaire to obtain information on demography, self-reported oral health status, knowledge of impact of oral health on daily life activity, dental attendance and perceived dental need.

Results: The perception of oral health status and treatment need of the two groups of dental auxiliaries was the same. Fewer respondents (27.3%) rated their oral health as excellent, while 50.4% rated their oral health as good. Majority (95.5%) agreed that oral health is a part of general health and 94.6% agreed that oral health has a role in daily life. Out of 81.4% that had previous dental treatment, scaling and polishing accounted for 66.1%. Presently, 48.8% think they need dental treatment ranging from scaling and polishing (33.9%), tooth restoration (10.3%), to extraction (1.2%).

Conclusion: This survey revealed that most of the students are aware that oral health is a component of general health and that it has an impact on an individual's daily life. More than half of the students perceived their oral health as good, but only a few knew that there is a need for a preventive approach to oral health as evident by the percentage that perceived scaling and polishing as a treatment need.

Keywords: dental auxiliaries; oral health; status.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Self-reported oral health status.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Respondents who believe oral health is part of general health.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Respondents who believe that oral health has an impact on daily life activity of individuals.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Atchison KA, Gift HC. Perceived oral health in a diverse sample. Adv Dent Res. 1997;11:272–80. - PubMed
    1. Jones JA, Kressin NR, Spiro A, 3rd, Randall CW, Miller DR, Hayes C, et al. Self-reported and clinical oral health in users of VA health care. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2001;56:M55–62. - PubMed
    1. Jones JA, Kressin NR, Miller DR, Orner MB, Garcia RI, Spiro A., 3rd Comparison of patient-based oral health outcome measures. Qual Life Res. 2004;13:975–85. - PubMed
    1. Ostberg AL, Lindblad U, Halling A. Self-perceived oral health in adolescents associated with family characteristics and parental employment status. Community Dent Health. 2003;20:159–64. - PubMed
    1. Jiang H, Petersen PE, Peng B, Tai B, Bian Z. Self-assessed dental health, oral health practices, and general health behaviors in Chinese urban adolescents. Acta Odontol Scand. 2005;63:343–52. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources