Dental survey in Nigeria. Part I. Prevalence of dental caries in Nigeria.

A joint dental epidemiological survey was carried out in 1981 in the ancient city of Ile-Ife and its environs in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The survey was made with the University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Oyo State, Nigeria, as the base. The occurrence of caries in 898 Nigerian school children of 509 urban and 389 rural children was compared with the occurrence of caries in the Japanese children. The results showed that the incidence of caries in the Nigerian school children was much lower than that of their Japanese counterpart. However, it is projected that with the increase in the consumption of sweet drinks and food in Nigeria, if superimposed on the existing poor oral hygiene, the incidence of caries will increase greatly.