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. 2024 Jun;74(3):622-630.
doi: 10.1016/j.identj.2023.11.012. Epub 2024 Jan 18.

The Prevalence, Dental Complications, and Effects of Infant Oral Mutilation

Daphne Spang  1 , Arthur M Kemoli  2 , Hans J J de Soet  1 , Kirsten A Ziesemer  3 , Catherine M C Volgenant  4
Affiliations

The Prevalence, Dental Complications, and Effects of Infant Oral Mutilation

Daphne Spang et al. Int Dent J. 2024 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this scoping review on infant oral mutilation (IOM) was to study the prevalence, dental complications, and immediate and long-term effects of this practice, in addition to providing a systematic overview on existing knowledge and analysis of identified knowledge gaps on IOM.

Methods: Five electronic bibliographic databases (OVID/Medline, Embase.com, Clarivate Analytics/Web of Science Core Collection, SCOPUS, and Global Index Medicus) were searched for relevant studies. Data were entered in a bespoke data-charting form. The risk of bias was assessed by 2 independent reviewers.

Results: A total of 478 studies were identified from the search, out of which 42 studies were included in this review. Of the 42 studies, 19 were prevalence studies published between 1969 and 2019 which were additionally assessed for the risk of bias. We found the prevalence of IOM in Uganda was 2% to 30%; Ethiopia, 12% to 86%; Sudan, 10%; Kenya, 61% to 87%; and Tanzania 0% to 24%. Based on the prevalence studies, we observed that the most common factor motivating IOM was diarrhoea. The immediate effects of IOM were found to be infection, bleeding, anaemia, pneumonia, septicaemia, osteomyelitis, meningitis, tetanus, and blood-borne diseases, with some infants dying from these effects. Missing canines, enamel hypoplasia, malformations, abnormal eruption of permanent teeth, occlusal discrepancies, midline shift, chronic periapical infections, rotations, canine transposition, or odontomas were the long-term effects found in relation to IOM.

Conclusions: IOM is a practice with serious immediate and long-term consequences that is mainly performed in East Africa (or by people originated from this region) in children aged 4 to 8 months. Most frequently affected are the deciduous canines and mostly the mandibular teeth. It is important to create professional and public awareness of the procedure in low- and high-income countries. Furthermore, there is a need for more research on the prevalence of IOM in Africa and other areas of the world to determine the long-term consequences of the practice.

Keywords: Infant oral mutilation; Tooth bud gouging; Tooth germ; Traditional practices.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest None disclosed.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig. 1
Flowchart of the search and selection process for the articles for inclusion in the scoping review study.
Fig 2
Fig. 2
An overview graph of the risk of bias of the 19 included prevalence studies: green (+) low risk, yellow (?) unclear risk, red (−) high risk, white not applicable. The full Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal checklist for prevalence studies is available in Appendix B.
Fig 3
Fig. 3
Map of Africa showing the found prevalences in this study.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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