Socio-economic status and utilisation of orthodontic services in a Nigerian hospital.

OBJECTIVE

To study the influence of socio-economic status on the utilization of orthodontic services and the uptake of orthodontic treatment in a Nigerian teaching hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHOD

Relevant information needed for the study had been previously recorded in the patient's case file. A total of 157 patients that presented from December 2002 to December 2004 were reviewed. The socio-demographic data of each patient and all other necessary clinical information were retrieved from the patients case files using a common data abstraction form. The patients were further categorized according to their socio-economic status using a modification of the standard occupational classification system (12). Social Class I represented those with the highest income while social class IV represented those with the lowest income.

RESULTS

Out of the 157 patients that presented during the period of review, 86 (54.8%) were from social class I, 42 (26.7%) from social class II, 22 (14.0%) from social class III and 7 (4.5%) from social class IV. Sixty three percent of the patients presented with skeletal Class I, 23.5% presented with Skeletal Class II, while 13.5% presented with Skeletal Class III, 29.3% of the patients presented with normal over jet and 38.8% patients presented with normal overbite. The Social Class of the patients had a significant effect on the skeletal pattern and overbite (p < 0.05)

CONCLUSION

Majority of patients utilizing Orthodontic services are from the higher social classes, therefore the uptake of orthodontic treatment is mainly a function of cost and not need or demand.