ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Quackery as a cause of maxillofacial infections and its implications

Akhiwu BI¹, Akhiwu HO², Mudashiru TO³, Ijehon B³, Aderemi AA³, Bwala LZ³, Ambrose E³, Sani MI³, Dauda AM³, Okafor EU³, Chimbueze E³, Ladeinde AL⁴

¹ Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Faculty of Dental Sciences, University of Jos/Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
² Department of Paediatrics, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
³Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Jos University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
⁴ Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, College of Medicine, University of Lagos/University of Jos, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Akhiwu BI
Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Department, Faculty of Dental
sciences, University of Jos/Jos University Teaching
Hospital, Jos, Plateau State Nigeria

Source of Support: None
Conflict of Interest: None

Background: In recent times, the prevalence of quackery in oral and maxillofacial practice has become rampant with complications, one of which is odontogenic infections. This study was aimed to identify how common quackery is among our patients with odontogenic infections and the outcome of the patients.

Materials and Methods: The study was a descriptive cross-sectional study of all patients presenting with odontogenic infections seen at the accident and emergency unit and the oral and maxillofacial surgery clinics of a tertiary hospital in North Central Nigeria from January 2017 to December 2021. Information obtained included sociodemographic characteristics, presenting complaints, duration of illness, prehospital care, diagnosis, duration of hospital stay, where the patient was first managed, what is the “doctor/dentist” status, and outcome.

Results: A total of 237 patients were recruited with a male to female ratio of 1:1.3. The commonest presenting complaints were toothache and jaw swelling with patients been ill for up to 2 weeks before presenting. About 41.8% of the patients have a co-existing health condition, and 46.4% of the patients had tooth extraction by a quack, with 82.7% taking antibiotics prescribed by a chemist before presentation. About 11.0% of the patients died; 96.2% of those that died had their tooth extracted by quacks. Patients with preexisting health conditions and preadmission tooth extraction were more likely to die with odds ratio (OR) = 2.230; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.06–4.71 and OR = 28.9; 95% CI = 3.97–209.6, respectively.

Conclusion: Quackery is very common in our society. The odds of death are increased in patients with odontogenic infection if the patient has a preexisting health condition and even more significant if they had their tooth extracted by quacks.