Oral Health Status/Access to Dental Services of Kirikiri Prisoners

OBJECTIVE: To assess the oral health status of prisoners and the level of access to oral health care within the prisons. DESIGN/METHOD: A descriptive cross sectional study of inmates interviewed through questionnaires. SETTING: Kirikiri Maximum Security Prisons Lagos State, Nigeria. SUBJECTS: 100 male inmates. RESULTS: Duration of incarceration ranged from 1yr to 26yrs with a mean duration of 6.3 yrs, a median of 5 yrs and a mode of 3yrs. 78% of inmates use toothbrush and tooth paste to clean their mouth while 24% use chewing sticks. The oral hygiene index using the Greene and Vermillion indicated that 30% had poor oral hygiene, 50% fair, and 20% good. Prevalence of dental caries was 33%, with a mean DMFT of 2.031. 20 of the inmates had periodontal and other oral mucosa abnormalities. Of these 20 inmates, 25% had acute gingivitis, 35% had chronic marginal gingivitis, 5% had Aphthous ulcers, 5% had pericoronitis, 5% had gingival hyperplasia, and 15% had white patches. Prevalence of gingival recession amongst inmates was 41%. 60% of inmates were presently suffering from various forms of toothache. Of the 60 inmates with toothache, only 7% saw a dentist. 67% of inmates know that there is a dental clinic within the prison yard but only 23% had visited the clinic before. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the oral health status amongst the prison inmates is above average. Access to good and proper oral health care services is very poor with low utilization of the available skeletal services.