Oral health seeking behaviuour of persons living with hiv at two comprehensive care centers in Kenya

Abstract

There is limited research on oral health seeking behavior in the Sub- saharan Africa. The few existing reports show very low utilization of oral health care services. The objective of this study was to assess the oral health seeking behaviour of persons living with HIV. It was a cross¬sectional study conducted at the Kenyatta National Hospital and Mbagathi district hospital Comprehensive Care Centers (CCC). Two hundred and fifty two HIV sero-positive males and females age between 19-73 years who presented themselves at the two Ccc. About a third 67.5% of the respondents said they had ever visited a dental clinic. Only 6.9% were visiting a dental clinic regularly. Less than half of the respondents (43.5%) were satisfied with the treatment received in the clinics. The main reason for satisfaction was pain relief. For those who were not satisfied with the treatment, the main reason for dissatisfaction was the use of local anaesthesia. For the respondents who had never visited a dental clinic, the main reason (60%) was their HIV status. "ajority of persons living with HIV/AIDS do not seek dental treatment regularly. The main reason for not seeking treatment is their HIV status. Only less than a half of those who seek treatment are satisfied with treatment given.