Dental health service utilisation by resident doctors/medical officers in the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.

BACKGROUND

Dental disease is still a serious health problem universally possibly because dental health awareness and dental service utilization is still very low. The reported prevalence of dental diseases, especially periodontal disease, is higher among the black race while their rate of dental service utilization is lower in comparison to Caucasians.

AIM

The aim of this study was to assess the rate of dental service utilization and identify the factors influencing such utilization by medical doctors and dentists in the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

METHODOLOGY

Two hundred 26-item questionnaires were distributed among the resident doctors/medical officers in the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo state. The questionnaire sought to know if there is any previous dental visits, the reason for such visits and any other follow-up visits afterward. One hundred and ninety of the doctors returned the filled questionnaires giving a response rate of 95%. Data analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 14.0. Level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05.

RESULTS

Majority of the respondents (65.3%) had a previous dental visit but only 25.3% was within the last one year of the study. Among those that had visited a dentist before, 59.7% did so for the symptomatic treatment of one ailment or the other and only 13.7% of them went back for the follow-up appointment after the resolution of their symptoms. There was a statistically significant difference between the rate of dental service utilization and the gender of the respondents (p < 0.001). There was no statistical significant relationship between the rate of dental service utilization and age of the respondents.

CONCLUSION

The study showed that the rate of dental service utilization is low when compared with that of developed countries. Some factors identified as contributing to the lack of dental service utilization among the participants include prolonged and repeated dental appointments and the demand of their work.