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. 2022 May 9;22(1):169.
doi: 10.1186/s12903-022-02064-x.

Oral health status of nursing staff in Ilembula, Wanging'ombe District, Njombe region, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Tobias Bensel  1 , Imke Erhart  1 , Simon Megiroo  2 , Werner Kronenberg  3 , Wolfgang Bömicke  4 , Sebastian Hinz  5
Affiliations

Oral health status of nursing staff in Ilembula, Wanging'ombe District, Njombe region, Tanzania: a cross-sectional study

Tobias Bensel et al. BMC Oral Health. .

Abstract

Background: Owing to the reduced dental treatment infrastructure in the Tanzanian highlands, maintaining good oral health is a challenge for not only the general population but also individual professional groups. In this study, the caries prevalence and, subsequently, the prosthetic treatment needs of the nurses of the Ilembula Lutheran Hospital (ILH) and Ilembula Institute of Health and Allied Sciences (IIHAS), Tanzania, were investigated.

Materials and methods: One hundred and sixty-eight ILH and IIHAS nurses and nursing students (87 women, 81 men; age 23.1 ± 6.1 years, range 18-58 years) participated in this cross-sectional study conducted in February 2020. The participants were examined at the dental office of ILH. The Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth (DMF/T) Index, Simplified Oral Hygiene Index, and details regarding edentulism, nutrition habits, and socioeconomic factors were collected. Linear regression and binary logistic regression were used for statistical analysis.

Results: The mean DMF/T-Index was 6.30 ± 4.52. In 7.14% of the investigated nurses, no dental plaque was detected. An enhanced prosthodontic treatment (Kennedy Class III) demand was identified in 31.50% of the participants, and 4.80% of the participants required treatment for acute malocclusion. Oral hygiene products were used by 99.4% of the patients.

Conclusions: The current oral health situation of the study participants showed a moderate restorative and prosthetic treatment demand in the rural area of Tanzania. The development of an interdisciplinary oral health prophylaxis system could be a means to remedy this situation.

Keywords: Caries incidence; Epidemiology; General oral health; Nursing staff; Tanzania.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Absolute frequencies of angle classification of the participants subdivided into neutral, distal, and mesial occlusion
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Absolute frequencies of intraoral characteristics of the participants subdivided into diastema, attrition, and recession
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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