Orthodontics in Nigeria: journey so far and the challenges ahead

Orthodontic curriculum in Saudi Arabia: Faculty members' perception of clinical learning outcomes

OBJECTIVES:

This study aimed to assess the perception of orthodontic staff members around clinical learning outcomes (LOs) of the undergraduate orthodontic curriculum with a focus on dental schools in Saudi Arabia.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Twenty-three LOs were formulated, all of which were associated with skills required in the undergraduate orthodontics course. Orthodontic staff members were invited to provide their opinion regarding the curriculum using a Likert scale, whereby participants could answer each question on a scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree.”

RESULTS:

Sixty-one teaching staff members agreed to partake in this study. The highest level of agreement among the participants pertained to conducting systematic orthodontic intraoral and extraoral examinations (100%), followed by explaining causes for space loss (98.3%). The lowest level of agreement was regarding executing a treatment plan for non-skeletal cases (62.2%) followed by skills of fabrication and activation of removable appliances (77%). Around 67.1% of the academics refused to allow dental students to select and bond orthodontic brackets.

CONCLUSION:

It is time to amalgamate the objectives and create a unified national list of LOs for all orthodontic curriculums across the country without any distinction of knowledge or skills required at the undergraduate level.

The COVID-19 pandemic and dental residency training in Nigeria

INTRODUCTION

The COVID-19 pandemic has had wide-ranging effects on dental practice across the world. In particular, if has also affected the training of dental residents, who are specialists in training. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, perception and attitude of dental residents in Nigeria to the pandemic and its perceived impact on the dental residency training programme across the country.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study of dental residents in teaching hospitals across Nigeria. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to consenting participants through an online data collection platform (Google forms), between April and June 2020. Data were collected on sociodemographics, knowledge and awareness of coronavirus as well as impact of the pandemic. Data analysis was carried out with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Level of significance was set at p-value < .05.

RESULTS

A total of 104 dental residents participated in the study from ten residency training institutions in the country with a mean age of 35.65 ± 4.8 years. Almost all 98 (94.2%) of the residents showed a good knowledge of COVID 19. About two-thirds, 72 (69.2%) of the participants were mostly worried about COVID-19 affecting their residency training program 72 (69.2%), with their greatest source of worry being the risk of contracting the virus in the dental clinic.

CONCLUSION

The dental residents had a very good knowledge of the epidemiology, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and majority of them felt that it would affect their training residency programme.

A 5-year retrospective evaluation of undergraduate dental research projects in a Nigerian University: Graduates' perceptions of their learning experiences

INTRODUCTION

Undergraduate research projects have never been evaluated despite six decades of dental training in Nigeria. This study evaluated dental graduates' perceptions of the research project from 2013 to 2017.

METHODS

A cohort of 93 graduates from a Nigerian University was investigated through the use of self-administered questionnaires on a Google form platform. Analysis was done using descriptive and analytical statistics on SPSS version 16. Statistical significant level was set at P < .05.

RESULTS

The cohort showed a very good understanding of research project objectives during their undergraduate training with more male and older students independently choosing their research topics (P > .05). Students' research topics were changed by supervisors in about one-quarter and one-tenth of the male and female students, respectively. About one-third of the students met set deadlines with no significant differences amongst gender and age groups (P > .05). However, only two-thirds of the students submitted their projects before the deadline due to other contending academic works. More males and older age group sought assistance from other academic staff for information on their projects. About one-half of the students reportedly acquired additional knowledge as a direct benefit from the project. Of all the variables associated with the research project, only the level of preparedness to undertake the project was highly statistically significant (P < .05) and this varied significantly amongst gender and age group (P < .05).

CONCLUSION

The students demonstrated a good understanding of research project. The perceived level of preparedness to undertake the project was low but significantly higher in male and older age groups.

Evaluation of early changes in oral health-related quality of life amongst Nigerian patients undergoing fixed orthodontic appliance therapy

BACKGROUND

The objective of the study was to evaluate changes in the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) during fixed appliance therapy.

METHODS

Sixty-one patients requiring fixed appliance therapy participated in the study. OHRQoL was assessed in all participants using the United Kingdom Oral Health-Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL-UK) tool and the Psychosocial Impact of Dental Aesthetics Questionnaire (PIDAQ), at baseline (T⁰), 1 week (T¹), 1 month (T²), 3 months (T³), and 6 months (T⁴), after appliance placement. Friedman 2-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Wilcoxon signed rank tests were used to compare the changes at the P<0.05 significance level.

RESULTS

There was a significant deterioration in OHRQoL in the first week of treatment based on the OHRQoL-UK measure (P=0.01). The PIDAQ, however, showed significant improvement in OHRQoL throughout the study period (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

Fixed orthodontic appliance therapy can significantly improve the OHRQoL of individuals.

Bullying, its effects on attitude towards class attendance and the contribution of physical and dentofacial features among adolescents in Northern Nigeria

Background Bullying is a worldwide problem with varying consequences. Victims of school bullying may be targeted for many reasons including their appearance. They may also fear school and have difficulties in concentration. Objective This study aimed to determine the prevalence of bullying amongst adolescents in Kano, Northern Nigeria, the contribution of physical features and the perceived effect of bullying on their academic performance and school attendance. Subjects and methods Eight hundred and thirty-five students aged between 12 years and 17 years from eight randomly selected secondary schools in Kano, Nigeria took part in this study. Data collection was by self-administered questionnaires and analysis was by SPSS version 17. Results The pupils' mean age and standard deviation was 14.79 + 1.53 years. There were more male and private school pupils with 55.1% and 62%, respectively. About 43% of respondents reported being victims of bullying while about 32% had bullied someone else. There was more bullying in public schools than in private schools (p-value = 0.003). However, there was no significant gender difference (p > 0.05). More bullied pupils hated being in or outside the classroom (p < 0.05). Similarly, significantly higher number of bullied pupils played truant than non-bullied (p < 0.001). One-fifth of the victims of bullying felt it had consequences on their academic performance. Bullies frequently targeted general physical and dento-facial appearance. Conclusion The prevalence of bullying was high among the sampled population especially within public schools. This also had a significant negative effect on the students' academic performance.

Cleft Lip and Palate Care in Nigeria: Current Status of Orthodontic Residents' Training in the Management of Children With Cleft Lip and Palate

This study aimed to assess and achieve an overview of the current status of training of orthodontic resident doctors working in Nigeria with regards to the management of children affected with cleft lip and palate (CL/P). Semistructured questionnaires containing 10 categories of questions relating to CL/P care were sent to 20 orthodontic resident doctors training to become specialists and working at 3 hospital training centers in Nigeria. Sixteen out of 20 (80%) questionnaires were eventually completed by the doctors and returned. Results were analyzed and reported as follows; 15 (94%) of the resident doctors had no orthodontic clinical experience in the management of children with CL/P and had never fitted a presurgical orthopedic appliance prior to the time the research was conducted. All the 16 resident doctors (100%) claimed to have been informed and taught in CL/P management by attending formal lectures and presenting seminars topics. Majority 15 (94%) of the resident doctors still did not have the required experience and research skills in the field of CL/P, while 14 (87.5%) of them had never attended craniofacial conferences before now. This study has revealed shortcomings in training of orthodontic residents as it concerns the management of children affected with CL/P in Nigeria. Trainers and orthodontic training institutions in Nigeria may need to restructure their training program to allow for more in depth training as it concerns management of children affected with CL/P.