Reviewing trends in the incidence of cancrum oris in Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

The objective of this clinic based retrospective study was to review the trends in the incidence of cancrum oris at the Dental clinic of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria. Records of children aged 1 to 16 years diagnosed as having cancrum oris between 1st of January 1986 to 31st December, 2000 were reviewed. Of the six thousand three hundred and ninety (6390) children seen within the period of study, 45 had cancrum oris with the modal age been 3-5 years and the mean age was 4.2 ± 2.7 years. There was a declining trend in the proportion of children presenting with the disease at five yearly interval within the period of study, although malnutrition was still a common factor in all the children.