Tobacco Use as Dental Therapeutics in Edo State, Nigeria

Introduction: Tobacco is regarded as addictive either smoked or chewed. It took over 500years to alter the assumption that tobacco use is beneficial to our health rather than a killer. Apart from its cultural and social value, it is also used religiously and therapeutically. It has multiplicity of administrations, raging from smoking, snuffing, dipping, inhalation, chewing and being mixed with plants and spices, so as to achieve its therapeutic desire. The Americans are well noted to have used tobacco for toothaches just like that of Aztecs chewed tobacco. Stomach ailments, headache and several other ailments are known to have benefited from tobacco usage. Methods: The essence of this research is to evaluate pattern of tobacco usage in Benin City, Nigeria, amongst patients with dental lesions. The study covered orthodox hospitals and trado-medical homes so as to minimize being biased. Patients from each collating centers were randomly selected. Results: Out of the 1,138 patients interviewed 15.86% admitted to use of tobacco as therapeutics regimen for dental lesions, 5.45% on monotherapeutic basis, while the rest (10.55%) combined them with either herbs, petrol, alcohol touch and go, urine therapy and other unclassified drugs. The females with 53.40% were most likely to use tobacco while age group 60years and above had the highest incidence of tobacco use with 38%. Results of benefit derived from tobacco applications showed that 47% had short term benefit, 3.75% had long term benefit, 2.25% had permanent resolution. The source of prescriptions of all the tobacco users were either self medication or family and friends. All patients screened used smokeless tobacco either by dipping or snuffing with direct application to the site affected by the lesion. Conclusion: The incidence of tobacco use in treating dental lesions is more common amongst the elderly and the outcome does not justify the use.