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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · European Journal of General Dentistry 2014; 3(02): 109-112
DOI: 10.4103/2278-9626.134833
Original Article

The use of medication as a preemptive strategy in teething children in a Nigerian community

O. I. Opeodu
Department of Periodontology and Community Dentistry, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
,
O. O. Denloye
1   Department of Child Oral Health, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Oyo, Nigeria
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Abstract

Context: Teething, which is the eruption of primary teeth in infancy, had been associated with various types of symptoms by both the parents and some healthcare workers. The association of symptoms with teething had led to the use of medications to alleviate these symptoms, which in some cases had claimed the lives of some of the children. Aims: This study aims at assessing the belief and practice of nursing mothers concerning the use of pre-emptive medications for children in order to prevent perceived symptoms of teething. Settings and Design: Cross-sectional study among nursing mothers who brought their children to immunization clinic. Subject and Methods: An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assess the belief of nursing mothers on the use of pre-emptive medications against perceived symptoms of teething, the drugs used and the age of their children when they started using the drug(s). Statistical Analysis: Data analysis was done using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 14. Analysis included frequency, mean of quantitative values and cross tabulations. Chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between those mothers, who believed that the medication should be used and those who did not believe in relationship with their age and their socio-economic status. Results: A total of 290 nursing mothers were assessed with 169 (58.3%) believing that drugs should be used as a pre-emptive measure for teething to be uneventful. Twenty-five (8.6%) of the mothers started the medications soon after birth, whereas 34.5% started it after the third month of life. Conclusions: There is the need for greater public enlightenment in order to reduce the use of medication(s) as a pre-emptive measure against “teething” as seen among the studied group.

Keywords

Children - medication - pre-emptive - teething


Publication History

Article published online:
01 November 2021

© 2014. European Journal of General Dentistry. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)

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