Adeyemi Oluniyi Olusile|Adekunle Oyeyemi Adeniyi|Olufemi Orebanjo
Self-rated oral health status, oral health service utilization, and oral hygiene practices among adult Nigerians
Obafemi Awolowo University|Lagos State University|Lagos State Health Service Commission
scarce information available oral health service utilization patterns common oral hygiene practices among adult nigerians conducted 20102011 national oral health survey introduction national oral health policy determine prevalence oral health service utilization patterns oral hygiene practices self reported oral health status among adults various social classes educational strata ethnic groups geopolitical zones nigeriawe conducted crosssectional survey northcentral northwest southeast southsouth southwest geopolitical zones nigeria multistage cluster sampling method used sample selection administered structured questionnaire total 7630 participants information sociodemographic characteristics oral hygiene practices oral health services utilization pattern participants obtainedwe interviewed 7 630 participants 556 female participants ages ranged 18 81 years mean age 3796 sd 132 overall 212 participants rated oral health status good 371 good 274 fair 264 reported visited dentist least prior conduct survey half visits 549 treatment purpose utilization oral health services significantly p 005 associated older educated engaged skilled profession educated persons females younger persons used toothbrushes daily tooth cleaning age sex marital status level education occupation significantly related daily frequency tooth cleaning p 005our results show nigerian adults positive view oral health status majority reported poor oral health utilization habits older persons resident northern zones country less educated persons displayed poorer oral hygiene practices study findings suggest low oral health service utilization among adult nigerians sociodemographic variables influence oral health utilization habits oral hygiene behavior among adult nigerians studies identify factors influencing oral health behavior suggested