Use of oral health care services and oral findings in children with special needs in Lagos, Nigeria.

This study was carried out to determine the use of oral healthcare services by children with special needs in Lagos, Nigeria. In this study, 125 structured questionnaires were sent to parents of children in two public day schools for CSN in Lagos. Once the questionnaires were returned, oral examinations were scheduled. The findings were compared to a control group of healthy children from two public schools in the same environment. One hundred and nine CSN and 134 controls, aged 5 to 19 years, participated in the study. The majority of the children had parents who had a low educational level. Fewer than 5% of the children had ever been to the dentist, and had only attended because of some symptoms. Non-attendance in 59.6% and 58% of CSN and controls respectively was reported to be due to absence of dental problem, 28% and 33.5% expressed ignorance about dentists and 8% of the parents of CSN identified finance and transportation as a problem. There were no significant differences between the two groups (p>0.05). It was found that 54% of CSN and 9% of controls had poor oral hygiene (p<0.05); dmft/DMFT was 0.25 in the controls and 0.12 in CSN (p>0.05). Untreated fractured teeth and missing teeth were more prevalent in CSN (p<0.05), while enamel hypoplasia was more prevalent in the controls (p<0.05). This study concluded that CSN and children from lower socioeconomic levels did not adequately utilize dental facilities in Lagos. Preventive programs in schools and the development of dental clinics in or near their schools could help.