An Assessment of Awareness of Medical Doctors to Malocclusion and Orthodontic Services in a Nigerian Teaching Hospital.

Abstract

Background: The general health and well-being of individuals can be affected by the state of their oral health. Medical doctors may play an important role in early detection of orthodontic problems in critical areas including timely referral of malocclusion, thus preventing complications. This study assessed the level of awareness of medical doctors concerning malocclusion, orthodontic practitioners and orthodontic treatment services.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 85 medical doctors in Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano (AKTH). Self-
administered questionnaires were developed and distributed for data collection while statistical Software Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS version 20) -Chicago was used for analysis. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.
Results: The sample population consisted of 83.5% male doctors and 16.5% female doctors with a mean age of 34.5±6.4years. Although, many of the doctors did not know that lip-sucking (61.2%) and thumb-sucking habit (48.2%) could adversely affect the front teeth alignment, most of them demonstrated good awareness concerning the orthodontic practitioners. Majority (69.4%) of the doctors were aware that orthodontic treatment services were being carried out in AKTH. Most male doctors did not know that the duration for orthodontic treatment was longer than most other dental procedures and this was statistically significant (p=0.025).
Conclusion: Majority of the doctors were aware of availability of orthodontists personnel and orthodontic services in AKTH.
However, more male doctors had adequate knowledge of the features of malocclusion whereas their female counterparts were more informed about the duration of orthodontic treatment (p<0.05).