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Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa

This study aimed to characterize the best predictors for unmet dental treatment needs and patterns of dental service utilization by adolescents in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Southern Africa. A self-reported 40-item oral health survey was administered, and clinical oral examinations were conducted in pu...

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Autores principales: Jessani, Abbas, Quadri, Mir Faeq Ali, Lefoka, Pulane, El-Rabbany, Abdul, Hooper, Kirsten, Lim, Hyun Ja, Ndobe, Eketsang, Brondani, Mario, Laronde, Denise M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7915077/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33562218
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children8020120
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author Jessani, Abbas
Quadri, Mir Faeq Ali
Lefoka, Pulane
El-Rabbany, Abdul
Hooper, Kirsten
Lim, Hyun Ja
Ndobe, Eketsang
Brondani, Mario
Laronde, Denise M.
author_facet Jessani, Abbas
Quadri, Mir Faeq Ali
Lefoka, Pulane
El-Rabbany, Abdul
Hooper, Kirsten
Lim, Hyun Ja
Ndobe, Eketsang
Brondani, Mario
Laronde, Denise M.
author_sort Jessani, Abbas
collection PubMed
description This study aimed to characterize the best predictors for unmet dental treatment needs and patterns of dental service utilization by adolescents in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Southern Africa. A self-reported 40-item oral health survey was administered, and clinical oral examinations were conducted in public schools in Maseru from August 10 to August 25, 2016. Associations between psychosocial factors with oral health status and dental service utilization were evaluated using simple, bivariate, and multivariate regressions. Five hundred and twenty-six survey responses and examinations were gathered. The mean age of student participants was 16.4 years of age, with a range between 12 and 19 years of age. More than two thirds (68%; n = 355) of participants were female. The majority reported their quality of life (84%) and general health to be good/excellent (81%). While 95% reported that oral health was very important, only 11% reported their personal dental health as excellent. Three percent reported having a regular family dentist, with the majority (85%) receiving dental care in a hospital or medical clinic setting; only 14% had seen a dental professional within the previous two years. The majority of participants did not have dental insurance (78%). Clinical examination revealed tooth decay on 30% of mandibular and maxillary molars; 65% had some form of gingivitis. In multivariate analysis, not having dental education and access to a regular dentist were the strongest predictors of not visiting a dentist within the last year. Our results suggest that access to oral health care is limited in Lesotho. Further patient oral health education and regular dental care may make an impact on this population.
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spelling pubmed-79150772021-03-01 Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa Jessani, Abbas Quadri, Mir Faeq Ali Lefoka, Pulane El-Rabbany, Abdul Hooper, Kirsten Lim, Hyun Ja Ndobe, Eketsang Brondani, Mario Laronde, Denise M. Children (Basel) Article This study aimed to characterize the best predictors for unmet dental treatment needs and patterns of dental service utilization by adolescents in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Southern Africa. A self-reported 40-item oral health survey was administered, and clinical oral examinations were conducted in public schools in Maseru from August 10 to August 25, 2016. Associations between psychosocial factors with oral health status and dental service utilization were evaluated using simple, bivariate, and multivariate regressions. Five hundred and twenty-six survey responses and examinations were gathered. The mean age of student participants was 16.4 years of age, with a range between 12 and 19 years of age. More than two thirds (68%; n = 355) of participants were female. The majority reported their quality of life (84%) and general health to be good/excellent (81%). While 95% reported that oral health was very important, only 11% reported their personal dental health as excellent. Three percent reported having a regular family dentist, with the majority (85%) receiving dental care in a hospital or medical clinic setting; only 14% had seen a dental professional within the previous two years. The majority of participants did not have dental insurance (78%). Clinical examination revealed tooth decay on 30% of mandibular and maxillary molars; 65% had some form of gingivitis. In multivariate analysis, not having dental education and access to a regular dentist were the strongest predictors of not visiting a dentist within the last year. Our results suggest that access to oral health care is limited in Lesotho. Further patient oral health education and regular dental care may make an impact on this population. MDPI 2021-02-07 /pmc/articles/PMC7915077/ /pubmed/33562218 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children8020120 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Jessani, Abbas
Quadri, Mir Faeq Ali
Lefoka, Pulane
El-Rabbany, Abdul
Hooper, Kirsten
Lim, Hyun Ja
Ndobe, Eketsang
Brondani, Mario
Laronde, Denise M.
Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa
title Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa
title_full Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa
title_fullStr Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa
title_full_unstemmed Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa
title_short Oral Health Status and Patterns of Dental Service Utilization of Adolescents in Lesotho, Southern Africa
title_sort oral health status and patterns of dental service utilization of adolescents in lesotho, southern africa
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7915077/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33562218
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/children8020120
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