Conference abstract

Pilot questionnaire based study on the use of dental health services by dentists in a tertiary dental health centre in the western part of Nigeria

Pan African Medical Journal - Conference Proceedings. 2022:13(25).03 Feb 2022.
doi: 10.11604/pamj-cp.2022.13.25.885
Archived on: 03 Feb 2022
Contact the corresponding author
Keywords: Dental health care, dental health services, dentists, utilization of dental serves
Oral presentation

Pilot questionnaire based study on the use of dental health services by dentists in a tertiary dental health centre in the western part of Nigeria

Ejiro Idiga1,&, Olushola Ibiyemi1

1Department of Periodontology and Community Dentistry, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

&Corresponding author

Introduction: as care givers, dentists should be models to their patients as their attitude towards their dental health could be a reflection of their attitude towards their general health.

The aim of the study was to assess the use of dental health services by dentists working in a tertiary dental health centre in Southwestern, Nigeria.

Methods: a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data about years of practice, history of dental visits and use of dental services from all available (49) dental residents and house officers at the Dental Centre, University College Hospital Ibadan. Statistical analysis included descriptive analyses of frequency and Pearson Chi square test at P Ë‚ 0.05.

Results: more than half (55.3%) of the respondents do not go for routine dental visits and most (63.3%) brush once daily. Forty percent of the respondents claim to presently have dental problems; most (90.9%) of whom feel they require treatment but up to 60% of them have never sought professional care for this.

Conclusion: the use of dental services was found to be low even amongst those that presently have dental problems. A more comprehensive study involving larger population of dentists would be necessary to confirm these findings. Areas of further study could include determining the factors that are responsible for the use of dental services by dentists.