Between 24% and 41% of the respondents indicated their inability to determine the appropriate treatment modality for children with high and low caries risk. Majority of the students failed to differentiate between the caries-preventive practice for children with high and low risk of caries: preventive strategies for children with high caries risk were also

used for those with low caries risk. Age, gender, knowledge of caries prevention measures, and self-perceived competency in providing caries-preventive care were not associated with student’s capacity to provide caries-preventive practice for children. Dasatinib mouse Caries-preventive practice among dental students in Nigeria could be improved. It may be important to explore the possible role of problem-based learning selleck monoclonal humanized antibody inhibitor approach in addressing this challenge. Dental

caries has been defined as ‘localized destruction of the tooth surface initiated by decalcification of the enamel followed by enzymatic lysis of organic structures and leading to cavity formation’[1]. Although the disease is not life threatening, it is a matter of great concern in dental public health circles because of its high prevalence in some of the developing countries[2, 3], its consequences such as pain and dysfunction, its impacts on the quality of life at all ages, and its social and economic burdens[4, 5]. The burden of caries is high among children living in Nigeria. Unfortunately, there is only one national study on the caries in children in Nigeria and this was conducted in 1995. The survey showed that 30% and 43% of 12- and 15-year-old children had caries. The DMFT for the 12- and 15- year-olds was 0.7 and 1.2 respectively, with very low level of restorative care[6]. The multiple regional studies in the very country continue to show that the prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition remains high ranging from 13.9% in Ile-Ife to 33.0% in Benin, 15.5% to 35.5% in Enugu, 5.7% to 30.8% in Lagos, and 11.2% in Ibadan[7-16] (O. O. Sofola, M. O. Folayan, A. B. Oginni, personal communication). In the primary dentition, the prevalence ranges from 10.9% in Ile-Ife to 6.4%

to 22.5% in Lagos[7, 8, 11, 15-18]. Not only is the prevalence high, the level of untreated caries in the permanent dentition is also high, ranging from 77.2% in Ile-Ife to 98.6% in Benin, and 49.5% to 85.5% in Enugu[7, 12-14]. In Lagos, the restorative index ranged from 0.3% to 1%[8, 16], whereas the treatment index is 5.7%[7]. The Met Need Index in Ibadan was 0.11[8]. The prevalence of untreated caries in the primary dentition also remained high ranging from 92% in Ile-Ife to 95.6% in Lagos[3, 7, 16, 18]. As implementation of a curative and restorative approach to combat dental caries at the population level does not appear to be cost-effective in many countries[5], the World Health Organization (WHO) has put more emphasis on prevention in setting global oral health goals for the year 2020[19].