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Age and reason of first visit among children seen at the paediatric dental unit of the Lagos state university teaching hospital
1 Department of Child Dental Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Lagos State University College of Medicine, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
2 Department of Child Dental Health, Dental Centre, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
3 Department of Restorative Dentistry, Dental Centre, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria.
Research Article
International Journal of Science and Research Archive, 2023, 09(01), 498–504.
Article DOI: 10.30574/ijsra.2023.9.1.0457
Publication history:
Received on 27 May 2023; revised on 10 June 2023; accepted on 13 June 2023
Abstract:
Background: A child’s first dental visit gives parents an opportunity to get guidance regarding their child’s oral hygiene, dietary practices, oral habits and prevention of traumatic injuries and oral diseases. It also provides an opportunity for parents to address their concerns and questions regarding their child’s oral care.
Aim: To determine the age and the purpose of first visit among children seen at the paediatric dental clinic of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.
Methodology: This is a retrospective study where the dental records of children between the age of 0 and 16 years were reviewed from January 2018 till May 2022. Statistical analysis was done using IBM SPSS software (version 23.0; IBM Corporation, Armonk, NY, USA). Continuous data are presented as means with standard deviation, whereas categorical variables are presented as frequencies and percentages. Descriptive statistics and Chi‑square analysis were conducted, and the level of significance was set at P < 0.05.
Results: Four hundred and ten children were seen, during the period under review. There were 199 (48.5%) males and 211 (51.5%) females. The major reason for presentation was dental caries (47.1%). Majority (31.5%) of those who presented during this period were aged 7 – 9 years. Children with special health care needs constituted about 2% of the population.
Conclusion: Dental clinic presentations in our environment are more associated with curative rather than preventive visits. More females were seen at the dental clinic compared to males. The main reason for presentation at the dental clinic was dental caries.
Keywords:
Age; Reasons; First dental visit; First dental appointment; Dental home
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Copyright © 2023 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0
