Factors Influencing differences between Patient’s Self-Perceived Oral Care Needs and Clinical Findings in a Nigerian Population

Statement of Problem: There is a gap in the knowledge of self-perception of patients about their oral health status and the clinical findings. Aim: To evaluate the factors that influence the correctness of oral health self-perception when related with real clinical findings in this environment. Method: Two hundred and thirteen consecutive adult patients attending the Dental Centre of the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria were recruited into this study. Evaluation of their intraoral status was done with self and interviewer based questionnaire and clinical assessment for teeth caries and gum inflammation status done using the DMFT (Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth) Index and the OHI-S (Oral Hygiene Index Simplified) by Green and Vermillion respectively. Informed consent was obtained from all the participants before recruiting them into the study and institutional ethical approval was also obtained. All clinical examinations were done in standard dental clinic setting and adequate illumination. Data was analyzed using simple frequency and distribution, Mann-Whitney U test and the one way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post-hoc test for the bi-variant analysis to test for significant difference between the variables. Result: The OHI-S assumed an almost normal distribution across the participants with a mean of 2.6188 (± 1.413) and skewness of 0.509 while the DMFT doesn't, with mean of 2.148 (± 2.843) and skewness of 2.25. A one way ANOVA with Tukey HSD post-hoc test showed educational level, marital status and gender to be statistically significant (p<0.05) for mean OHI-S with only gender and educational level being the only significant predictors using multiple linear regression analysis. Mann-Whitney U test showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) between the mean DMFT for marital status and educational levels. Conclusion: Gender, educational levels and marital status are significant factors that influence the correctness of oral health self-perception when related with clinical findings with only gender and educational status as the only significant predictors for periodontal disease.