Gender Distribution of Amalgam Restoration and Treatment Pattern in Regular Attendees of a Teaching Hospital in Nigeria

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Amalgam restoration has been the main procedure carried out over the last two centuries in spite of going through 2 major wars by those opposed to amalgam; however, it has been known that several factors affect it from the stage of titration, packing and finishing of the material but studies on the effect of gender on the treatment and distribution pattern are very scarce. Materials and methods This is a 12 years cross-sectional longitudinal retrospective study of dental records of patients who had attended the Dental Centre of University College Hospital, Ibadan, a Teaching Hospital located in the South West of Nigeria, regularly for a minimum period of 5 years. Results A total of 2,094 restorations were found to meet the criteria with males accounting for 691 (33%) and females 1403 (67%). When distributed into classes of restoration, females had more class I, II and V restorations placed (69.8%, 62.7%, 63.6%) more than males (30.2%, 37.3%, 36.4%) respectively. Females also had more primary placements and replacement done for all the classes of restorations. Conclusion More female patients attended the conservative dentistry clinic regularly more than their male counterparts and more females had higher number of restorations placed, however, there is a reduced female:male ratio in the subgroup of class II amalgam restorations. It was observed that the most frequent reason given in replacement of restorations was fractured amalgam restorations. How to cite this article Olaleye AO. Gender Distribution of Amalgam Restoration and Treatment Pattern in Regular Attendees of a Teaching Hospital in Nigeria. World J Dent 2014; 5(2):109-112.