Oral habits among 7-10 year-old school children in Ibadan, Nigeria

Objective: To assess the prevalence of oral habits among 7-10 year-old children in Ibadan, Nigeria. Design: An epidemiological survey of randomly selected school children. Criteria for social class was based on registrar general's social class. Setting: Primary schools from different parts of Ibadan city, Nigeria. Subjects: 493 school children aged 7-10 years consisting of 237(48.1%) boys and 256 (51.9%) girls. Main outcome measures: Only children still actively involved in oral habits were coded positive. Results: In all, 49 (9.9%) of the children were involved in one type of oral habit or the other with digit sucking being most prevalent 40(8.1%). Lip sucking was observed in 6(1.2%) while 1(0.2%) had an unusual sucking habit - sucking of left forearm with resultant severe anterior open bite (10 mm). The relationship between the oral habits anterior open-bite and increased overjets were very significant statistically (