Nigeria′s street children, epitome of oral health disparity and inequality

Abstract

Introduction: it has been close to four years since the authors highlighted the total neglect of the oral health of street children in the Journal of Public Health Policy. Since then, the authorities appear to have simply turned the blind eye making this follow-up imperative. This follow-up report specifically examines the resultant oral health disparity between Nigeria's street children and Private, fee-paying secondary school students in Northern Nigeria.

Methods: we conducted a cross-sectional comparative survey of randomly selected 12-14 years old street children (children of Quranic informal educational institutions) in Northern Nigeria while fee paying, private secondary school children served as controls. A simple close-ended questionnaire translated into Hausa language was used to assess oral health knowledge and the Simplified Oral Hygiene Index used to categorize oral hygiene status of the participants.

Results: the mean age (SD) of the participating street children was 12.7 (0.86) while that of the private secondary school students (PSSS) was 13.05 (0.96). The majority (89%) of parents of street children compared with that (7%) of parents of students of private secondary schools had no western education. Only 6% of street children compared with 90% of PSSS cleaned their teeth for the right reasons. Only 5% of street children compared with 90% of private secondary school students used a fluoride-containing toothpaste. Though both groups of children have poor knowledge (street children 3%, private secondary school students 16%) on the use of dental floss, the mean oral hygiene score (SD) for street children was 4.42 (0.85) compared with 1.90 (0.09) for private secondary school students. There were striking differences in knowledge and practice with only 4% of street children compared with 69% of PSSS with knowledge about fluoride and its use (p < 0.0005). Also, 2% of street children compared with 40% of PSSS were aware of the benefits of regular dental visits. Sixty five (65%) of street children used finger and water only for tooth cleaning, none of the secondary school students practiced this (p = 0.0005).

Conclusion: there is disparity in oral health practice between Nigeria's street children and private secondary school children. This disparity may be attributed to lack of western education and socio-economic status.