Seidu A Bello^1,2, Nathan U Ikimi^1,2* and Michael A Adedigba³

¹Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, State House Clinic, Aso Rock, Abuja Nigeria
²Cleft and Facial Deformity Foundation (CFDF), Gwarinpa Abuja Nigeria
³Faculty of Dentistry, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State Nigeria

*Corresponding Author: Nathan U Ikimi, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, State House Clinic, Aso Rock, Abuja Nigeria.

Received: December 21, 2022; Published: January 09, 2023

Abstract

Objective: To present our experience of engagement of dental auxiliaries to carry out minor dental treatment during an outreach program in a rural population of Oyo state, Nigeria. This in effect will reduce the oral health burden of rural populace and may be a clarion call for a policy change in the health system.

Methodology: This is a retrospective study of the functions of dental auxiliaries during the dental outreach program that took place at Oke-Ogun communities between January 2019 and July 2022. Oke-ogun consist of rural communities of Oyo State, Nigeria, consisting of 10 Local Government Areas (LGAs). Outreach program data collected were analysed using SPSS statistical package (version 20).

Results: A total of 1538 patients were seen during the program, consisting of 823 (53.5%) male and 715 (46.5%) female. Periodontitis including gingivitis, chronic periodontitis and advanced periodontitis constituted 868 (56.4%) of the diagnosis recorded. Dental auxiliaries rendered treatment to 1,007 (65.5%) of the respondents including scaling and Polishing, Filling, medication, counselling, and referral while doctors treated 464 (30.2%), mainly dental extractions.

Conclusion: Dental auxiliaries can attend to most of the basic oral health needs of the rural populace which is tied essentially to oral hygiene maintenance. It implies that establishing a community dental clinic manned by the dental auxiliaries in all the local government areas of Nigeria will ensure continuous awareness creation and basic oral health maintenance. Due to shortage of dentist, dental auxiliaries can be used in rural areas while making referrals of difficult cases to the dentist that are mainly based in the cities.

Keywords:Dental Auxiliaries; Oke-Ogun; Rural; Oral Health Burden

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Citation

Citation: Bello SA., et al. “Oke-Ogun Communities Engagement of Dental Auxilaries, a Call for Policy Direction".Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 7.2 (2023): 74-78.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Bello SA., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.