Strengthening the oral health system in Nigeria: A health systems building block approach.

Aim: The present study aimed to describe the building blocks of the oral health system, including the role that the community plays in strengthening the oral health system in Nigeria.

Methodology: This research was a scoping review of the existing literature retrieved from search engines and databases. Thus, we utilised grey literature, peer-reviewed literature, policy documents and websites.

Gaps in oral health-care service provision systems for children in Nigeria: A case study of a tertiary health institution.

Background: The study investigated the common dental conditions of children seen in a Nigerian tertiary hospital. The referral patterns were also determined to know how many of the patients had sought care at the lower levels of health before visiting a tertiary hospital.

Methods: All the children aged 0-15 years seen at the Dental hospital, Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria over a 4-year period were included in the study.

Honoring Dental Patients' Privacy Rule Right of Access in the Context of Electronic Health Records.

A person's right to access his or her protected health information is a core feature of the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule.

Sugar consumption and dental caries experience in Kenya.

Introduction: There have been claims that dental caries experience and prevalence in Kenya has been increasing as a result of increased sugar consumption. A review of the literature in 1986 failed to link dental caries experience with an increase in gross national sugar consumption. Subsequently, a number of studies were conducted, necessitating further review to examine trends in dental caries experience and to relate this to changes in per capita sugar consumption.

Integration of Oral Health into Primary Health Care System: Views of Primary Health Care Workers in Lagos State, Nigeria.

The limited access to oral health care in developing countries can be greatly improved by integrating oral health into the Primary Health Care (PHC) system. This study was designed to assess the views of PHC workers on integrating oral health care into the PHC system. A self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted in two selected local government areas of Lagos State.

The role and place of medicinal plants in the strategies for disease prevention.

Medicinal plants have been used in healthcare since time immemorial. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their efficacy and some of the findings have led to the production of plant-based medicines. The global market value of medicinal plant products exceeds $100 billion per annum.

A 50-year audit of published peer-reviewed literature on pit and fissure sealants, 1962-2011.

Objective: Pit and fissure sealants have been used for many decades to prevent the initiation of caries on susceptible tooth surfaces. The purpose of this study was to analyze the peer-reviewed published scientific literature on pit and fissure sealants over the last 50 years.

Materials And Methods: On the PubMed database, all publications on pit and fissure sealants from 1962-2011 were extracted using the search phrase [(pit OR fissure) AND (sealant OR sealants OR adhesive)].

Dental sealant knowledge, opinion, values and practice of Spanish dentists.

Background: Multiple guidelines and systematic reviews recommend sealant use to reduce caries risk. Yet, multiple reports also indicate that sealants are significantly underutilized. This study examined the knowledge, opinions, values, and practice (KOVP) of dentists concerning sealant use in the southwest region of Andalusia, Spain.

Infection control knowledge and practices related to HIV among Nigerian dentists.

Background: Many diseases including HIV/AIDS can be transmitted in the dental setting when effective infection control procedures are ignored. The aim of this study, therefore, was to evaluate the infection control knowledge and practices of Nigerian dentists in the era of HIV/AIDS.

Methodology: Information on knowledge of transmission of HIV, occupational vulnerability, infection control practices, and opinion on adequacy of infection control facilities were gathered from dentists through a self-administered questionnaire.

Do maternal factors influence the dental health status of Nigerian pre-school children?

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the relationship between maternal related factors and the dental health status of pre-school children in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Methods: A cross-sectional study of 404 pairs of mothers and their pre-school children was conducted at two selected primary health centres in Lagos State Nigeria. An interviewer administered questionnaire recorded the mother's socio-demographic characteristics and assessed her perception of her child's dental needs, attitude to oral disease prevention, level of dental health knowledge and attitude to oral health.

Oral health status in a population of Nigerian diabetics.

Oral manifestations of diabetes mellitus have been documented, but the effect of glycemic control on the oral tissues has been scantily reported. The oral health status of 65 metabolically controlled adult diabetic patients attending the Diabetes Clinic of Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, was prospectively assessed over six months and compared with that of 54 non-diabetic acting as controls. The mean duration of diabetes was 100.

Is malaria a predisposing factor for third molar pericoronitis in the tropics?

Background: Malaria is an important disease in the tropics, and its role as a predisposing factor or co morbidity has been investigated in many diseases including HIV infection and tuberculosis. There are very few studies, which have investigated its role in oral and dental diseases. Our study aimed to demonstrate the possible role of malaria in predisposing to pericoronitis, an infection affecting impacted third molars predominantly.

HIV/AIDS situation in Africa.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic marks a severe development crisis in Africa, which remains by far the worst affected region in the world. Forty-two million people now live with HIV/AIDS of which 29.4 million (70.

Gender distribution of dentists in Nigeria, 1981 to 2000.

In Nigeria, modern dental practice is relatively recent. The dawn can be traced to 1915 when the first government dentist was employed in Lagos, then the country's capital. There are presently four dental schools in the country; each graduates an average of thirty dentists annually.

From didactic teaching to participatory learning. An innovative approach.

A course in Public Oral Health is currently offered by the Division of Public Oral Health (POH) to students in their final (6th year) of study for the degree of Bachelor of Dental Science. A fundamental aspect of this project was to shift the teaching methods from didactic to a participatory, student-centred approach, based on current local and international trends in medical, dental and general education. In 1999 the course covering core Public Health topics was presented over a period of 20 weeks to 49 students who were divided into three groups.

HIV/AIDS pandemic and surgical practice in a Nigerian teaching hospital.

The objective of the study was to determine the effects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic on surgical practice in a Nigerian teaching hospital. It involved a questionnaire survey of all the doctors practising in the surgical specialties at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in order to obtain their attitudes and practices toward HIV-positive surgical patients. Sixty-five doctors were interviewed, their ages ranged from 26 years to 62 years with a mean age of 35.