Dental caries and oral health: an ignored health barrier to learning in Nigerian slums (a cross sectional survey)

Abstract

Introduction: in sub-Saharan Africa, 62% of the urban population reside in slums but there is paucity of data on the prevalence of dental caries in underprivileged children residing in urban slums in diverse regions of Nigeria. The purpose of our study was to determine the caries experience, risk factors, indicators and their association with anthropometric indices among children in a Nigerian slum. Methods: this was a cross sectional survey that utilised cluster sampling technique for recruiting the study participants. The participants included children from the four cluster areas of Makoko; Makoko North, Makoko Central area, on Water residents and South-East Makoko in Lagos, Nigeria; 684 children were enlisted for the study. Caries was recorded based on the WHO criteria while the weight for age (WAZ), height for age (HAZ), and weight for height (WHZ) measures were used to assess each child´s nutritional state. The chi-square test was used to test bivariate associations. Statistical significance was set at 0.05. Results: out of the 684 children seen, 64 (9.9%) had dmft ≥1 with range of 1-12; (127 primary teeth were decayed; 6 missing due to caries; 0 filled); while 45 (7.1%) had Decayed Missing Filled Teeth (DMFT) ≥1 with range of 1-6; (79 permanent teeth were decayed; 14 missing due to caries; 0 filled). Maternal and Paternal educational level, child´s age, consumption of cariogenic meals, and history of dental visits were all significantly associated with caries experience (p<0.05). For children with dental caries, the mean weight for height, height-for-age, weight for age-and BMI-for-age z-scores were 0.33±2.6;-1.49±1.8 and-0.79±1.90.58,-0.16), respectively, and these z-score values were lower than those in the caries-free children. The BMI-for-age z-scores were significantly lower in children with dental caries than in caries free children (p=0.005). Conclusion: dental caries, which was mainly untreated was moderately prevalent among the children surveyed in the urban slum. There was also a significant association between the presence of caries in this population and low BMI. Specifically designed and well-targeted oral health interventions that takes status into consideration is required.