Bankole Olubunmi Olusola, Lawal Folake Barakat
1 Department of Child Oral Health, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
2 Department of Periodontology and Community Dentistry, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
Int Q Community Health Educ. 2017 Jan;37(2):99-106. doi: 10.1177/0272684X17701262.
Misconceptions about the teething process has led to high infant morbidity and mortality, which was recently experienced in Nigeria due to consumption of an adulterated drug used in the prevention and treatment of teething-related illnesses in infants. It is however, unknown if these misconceptions still persist in a rural town in Nigeria despite oral health awareness campaigns targeted at this. The aim of this study is to assess the beliefs and practices of residents in Igbo Ora, a rural township in Nigeria, regarding the teething process. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 393 adults in Igbo Ora using a 33-item, semistructured questionnaire. Symptoms such as diarrhea (80.7%), fever (69.2%), and boils (64.4%) were still considered as a must to accompany teething. Teething powder, teething syrup, and traditional concoctions were commonly recommended by (42.0%), (31.6%), and (48.1%) of the respondents, respectively, to treat and prevent teething symptoms. This study revealed that misconceptions about teething are still highly prevalent among the populace in Igbo Ora, and a structured oral health education intervention at the community level is urgently needed.
对出牙过程的误解导致了高婴儿发病率和死亡率，最近在尼日利亚就出现了这种情况，原因是食用了一种用于预防和治疗婴儿出牙相关疾病的掺假药物。然而，尽管针对此开展了口腔健康宣传活动，但这些误解在尼日利亚的一个乡村小镇是否仍然存在尚不清楚。本研究的目的是评估尼日利亚乡村小镇伊博奥拉居民对出牙过程的看法和做法。在伊博奥拉对393名成年人进行了一项描述性横断面研究，使用一份包含33个条目的半结构化问卷。腹泻（80.7%）、发烧（69.2%）和疖子（64.4%）等症状仍被认为是出牙必然伴随的症状。分别有42.0%、31.6%和48.1%的受访者通常推荐出牙粉、出牙糖浆和传统药剂来治疗和预防出牙症状。本研究表明，在伊博奥拉民众中，对出牙的误解仍然非常普遍，迫切需要在社区层面开展结构化的口腔健康教育干预。
