ArticlePloS one2016
Digit Sucking Habit and Association with Dental Caries and Oral Hygiene Status of Children Aged 6 Months to 12 Years Resident in Semi-Urban Nigeria.
Article in PloS one, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and associated risk indicators of early childhood caries in Nigeria: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of dental caries in the primary, mixed and permanent dentitions in Nigeria: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence of dental caries in the permanent dentition amongst 12-year-olds in Africa: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2022Pooled it
- Dental Caries Status of Children and Adolescents in West Africa-A Literature Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Clinical assessment of deleterious oral habits and dental caries-periodontal parameters among Turkish twins.Journal of dental sciences · 2023Article
- Dietary Sugar Exposure and Oral Health Status in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Case-control Study.Journal of autism and developmental disorders · 2022Article
- Association between malocclusion, caries and oral hygiene in children 6 to 12 years old resident in suburban Nigeria.BMC oral health · 2019Article
- Association between early childhood caries and malnutrition in a sub-urban population in Nigeria.BMC pediatrics · 2019Article
- Oral habits and malocclusion in children resident in Ile-Ife Nigeria.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2019Article
- Impact of oral hygiene and socio-demographic factors on dental caries in a suburban population in Nigeria.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2018Article
- General anxiety, dental anxiety, digit sucking, caries and oral hygiene status of children resident in a semi-urban population in Nigeria.BMC oral health · 2018Article
- Prevalence of developmental dental hard-tissue anomalies and association with caries and oral hygiene status of children in Southwestern, Nigeria.BMC oral health · 2016Article
- Use of caries prevention tools and associated caries risk in a suburban population of children in Nigeria.European archives of paediatric dentistry : official journal of the European Academy of Paediatric Dentistry · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesNon-nutritive sucking (NNS) is a common behavior in childhood. The association between digit sucking, dental caries and oral health has been studied with inconclusive results. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of, and the association between digit sucking, caries and oral hygiene status of children age six months to 12 years, resident in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria.
methodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Ife Central Local Government Area of Osun State. Data were collected through a household survey using a multi-stage sampling procedure from children between six months and 12 years. Details of each child's socio-demographic characteristics, digit sucking habits, caries status and oral health status were collected. The association between digit sucking, caries status and oral hygiene status was determined using Chi square and Logistic regression.
resultsThe mean age of the 992 study participants was 5.8 ± (3.2) years. The prevalence of digit sucking, caries and poor oral hygiene were 7.2%, 10.5% and 2.4% respectively. The mean dmft score was 0.22 ± (0.80), mean DMFT score was 0.04 ± (0.30) while mean Oral Hygiene Index score was 1.27 ± (0.73). Digit sucking increased the odds of having caries (OR: 1.28; CI: 0.58-2.81) but decreased the odds of having poor oral hygiene (OR: 0.58; CI: 0.34-1.01) insignificantly.
conclusionsDigit sucking was not a significant predictor of caries and oral hygiene status, although the odds of having caries increased while the odds of having poor oral hygiene decreased with digit sucking.
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