UNIBEN don decries dearth of orthodontists, says 70 inadequate for over 200m Nigerians

A University of Benin (UNIBEN) professor of dentistry,Professor Idia Ize-Iyamu, has decried the dearth of orthodontists in Nigeria.

The orthodontist lamented that the 70 practitioners in the country remained grossly inadequate to serve the over 200 million Nigerians.

Professor Ize-Iyamu, who made the observations while delivering the 262 inaugural lecture of the university on Thursday, said that according to the Nigeria Association of Orthodontists (NOA), the ratio is one orthodontist to 2.7million people as at 2019.

She noted that the statisticss is in sharp contrast to the United States of America where there was one orthodontist to 5,054 people, adding that the figures were also encouraging in European countries and the UK.

She therefore called for the training of more specialists in Nigeria to meet the ratio obtained in developed countries.

She noted that the trainer to trainer ratio at the West African College of Surgeon, and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria is one consultant orthodontist to three and four doctors respectively, adding, “This makes the pace slow, given the number of training centres are also few.”

Ize-Iyamu added that out of the 70 orthodontists in the country, there were currently 10 professors in Nigeria with four in Lagos, three in Benin, two in Ife and one in Port Harcourt.

“There are only nine accredited dental schools for undergraduate training which involves teaching orthodontist as a subject and part of the curriculum. The total number of dental students approved in Nigeria by the Medical and Dental Council are 165 which translates to one professor to over 16 students and 21 million Nigerians”, the university don noted.

She urged policy makers to formulate plans that would incorporate the poor in the society so that interventions that could transform a smile were made available in selected health facilities.

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