Dental treatment needs among students with disabilities in Sokoto, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Individuals with disabilities experience more dental problems and have more unmet dental needs, and face additional challenges accessing dental treatments. It is imperative therefore to carry out a study that would assess the dental treatment needs of this vulnerable population to aid the planning of appropriate oral health programs tailored towards their peculiarities.
 Objective: To determine the dental treatment needs among students with disabilities in Sokoto, Nigeria
 Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional survey conducted in Sokoto State among students with disabilities. IBM SPSS version 23.0 was used to analyze data via descriptive statistics. The results were displayed in charts and frequency tables.
 Results: Two hundred and thirty-six students with disabilities, 69 (29.2%) females and 167 (70.8%) males were recruited in the study. Preventive treatment need was the most required treatment need 65 (27.5%), it also accounted for the highest mean number of teeth per subject (0.86 ± 1.80) requiring treatment. The hearing-impaired group required the most treatments across the various treatment types [i.e. preventive treatment needs 26 (40.0%), conservative treatment needs 31 (53.4%), endodontic treatment needs 8 (44.4%), oral surgery treatment needs 13 (44.8%)], except in the prosthodontic treatment needs, which was required more by the intellectually impaired group 8 (42.1%).
 Conclusion: The present study shows high dental treatment needs among students with disabilities in Sokoto, with preventive and restorative treatments accounting for the bulk of treatment required by the study population. The Hearing-impaired group had the most required treatment needs compared to others.