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Objectives: Discriminatory attitudes (DA) of dental surgeons towards PLWHIV may hinder their access to oral health care. The objective of this study was to identify the factors associated with the discriminatory attitudes of dentists towards PLHIV in Côte d’Ivoire., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted on a randomly selected sample of dentists in Abidjan. The data collected were: their socio-professional characteristics, their knowledge of HIV/AIDS, their perceptions and attitudes towards PLWHIV, and whether they had received continuing education or sensitization on HIV/AIDS. Discriminatory attitudes was a binary variable, defined from the combination of four criteria. Numbers and percentages were calculated for all variables. The risk of having DA was estimated by the odds ratio., Results: A total of 120 dentists were surveyed, 43.3% of whom were women and 39.2% from the private sector. They did not know the routes of transmission (29.2%) and the oral pathologies associated with HIV (62.5%). Their perceptions were dominated by the fear of being contaminated during care (69.2%). The frequency of DA was estimated at 69.2%. The main associated factors were: female gender; lack of knowledge of HIV/AIDS-related oral pathologies, lack of the risk of HIV transmission after blood exposure accident, and ignorance of the existence of a law on the protection of PLWHA; and fear of being contaminated., Conclusion: This study reveals that the DA of dental surgeons with regard to PLWHIV in Côte d’Ivoire are mainly the result of poor knowledge of the disease.

Background: In Côte d'Ivoire, maternal health service utilization indicators remain low despite improvements in health coverage and the availability of free health care for pregnant women. The objective of the study was to identify the determinants associated with the use of maternal health services in the department of Bloléquin, in western Côte d'Ivoire., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study with an analytical focus. The study sample size was 400 women. Study participants were selected through a two-stage cluster survey. The data were collected using a standardized questionnaire whose items concerned socio-demographic data, the different uses of maternal health services, namely childbirth assisted by a health professional, use of family planning, prenatal consultation and postnatal consultation. Logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with the use of maternal health services. The significance of the statistical tests was set at 5%. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were calculated and interpreted., Results: The results showed that women made less use of family planning services (OR = 0.4), prenatal consultation (OR = 0.2) and assisted childbirth (OR = 0.2) when they provided the funding for care themselves. Women with monthly incomes above $26.8 used family planning services 4 times more than those with lower incomes. Married women used prenatal consultations 3 times more often than unmarried women (CI 95%  = 1.4-7.3). Desiring pregnancy increased the use of post-natal consultations by 3 times (CI 95%  = 1.5-6.1)., Conclusion: Improving the use of maternal health services in western Côte d'Ivoire requires taking into account women's socio-cultural and economic challenges. In initiatives related to the financial empowerment of women, efforts must be made at the level of emotional considerations related to pregnancy.

Traditional medicine of which is a part traditional odontology occupies an important place within the African societies. It often constitutes the first appeal (80 % of the population) because of the high cost of the care, the incapacity of the human and material resources but also the faiths of the populations. This reality makes valuation of the traditional odontology a necessity. This study comes within this framework. It's a contribution for a better knowledge of practices and plants used in traditional odontology in Ivory Coast. So, after a presentation of some traditional knowledge's and their fields of application, the authors review studies made on the efficiency of plants in the prevention of tooth decay and the treatment of some oral diseases. The objective of these researches is to elaborate effective and financially affordable traditional improved drugs.

Sugar and tooth decays are bound closely. The mechanisms of destruction of the tooth from the glycolyse are known. The role played by the food in the development of the caries is unique. Foods sweetened of all ways, rich in sucrose are responsible of the intervening of the carious lesions. The transformation of the fermentable sugars in lactic with the absence of hygiene and the action conjugated of the bacteria leads to tooth decays in temporary and permanent denture that evolve very quickly in the absence of treatment. Reasons for which the authors put in evidence in this survey, the influence of the food sweetened on the teeth at the children while showing the cases of caries and its complications due to the excessive consumption of fermentable hydrates of carbon.

In the framework of an important evaluation survey on absences at work position due to bucco-dental problems, a preliminary study in undertaken in school environment on a sample of 278 children attending examination classes from Abidjan three districts (Adjamé, Williamsville, Cocody). Results show that: 34.89% among children have been absent at least one time of which 19.78% for pulp pain, 22.66% of the sample have got a rest and for 14.02% among them, the rest was at least a day. These absences results in a waste in annual hourly volume from 2.69% to 8.08% of the annual hourly quota in terms of dispensed Cowes's in Ivory Coast primary schools. The results show that bucco-dental pathologies and their corresponding i.e. school absences have a repercussion on pupils attendance regularity at school and with no doubt on schools results. They indicate the necessity to put an emphasise on the prevention and the early treatments of these affections.

The International Aid for Ontology (IAO) carried out this survey of hygiene in the dental health services of 5 French-speaking African countries in 1994, in association with the Faculty of Pharmaceutical and Biological Sciences of Paris. This study received support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the French Ministry for Cooperation and the European Community and the Ivory Coast Oral and Dental Hygiene and Health Committee (CIHSBD). Twenty-nine dental services from Benin (3), Burkina Faso (6), Ivory Coast (12), Mali (5), Niger (3) participated in this survey which gives an insight into the daily hygiene routines of these services. The cleaning, decontamination, disinfection and sterilization procedures for premises, dental equipment, instruments, hands and disposable items were investigated. No individual protocols are reported. Bench tops were cleaned or disinfected daily in 73% of centers and floors were cleaned or disinfected daily in 59% of centers. Walls were cleaned once per week in 44% of the centers. Hands were always washed between patients, with 68% of dental surgeons using only solid or liquid cleansing soaps and the others using antiseptic or disinfectant solutions. The dentist's chair was cleaned or disinfected daily in 68% of centers, mostly with soap (43%) or diluted bleach (23%). Vacuum equipment was cleaned with soap (50%) or diluted bleach (57%), with some surgeries using a combination of the two. Hand pieces and turbines were cleaned and disinfected after each use with alcohol (35%) or diluted bleach (26%) and were sterilized in 9% of centers. Instruments were sterilized with a Poupinel (63%), unspecified sterilizer (26%), autoclave (7%) or low temperature disinfection procedure (4%). Instruments were regularly sterilized in all centers. Single-use disposable items were often reused: 88% of centers reused gloves, 64% anesthetic cartridges and 32% disposable needles. This survey demonstrates that dentists do attempt to achieve appropriate hygiene standards despite difficult practice conditions, exacerbated by supply problems. In all applications, hygiene involves a succession of closely-related, logical steps, which form an asepsis chain aimed at preventing the transmission of infection. Our survey shows that fundamental elements of hygiene require attention to achieve this aim. The cleaning, disinfection and sterilizing of floor surfaces and equipment should be improved and more widespread use made of disposable items. It is important to define the hygiene level required for particular treatments, taking into account the oral and dental micro flora and whether the equipment has been decontaminated, disinfected or sterilized. A piece of equipment is decontaminated if it has been mechanically cleaned and decontaminated. It is disinfected if these steps are followed by rinsing with sterile water, drying and conditioning. An item is described as sterilized if it is cleaned, decontaminated, rinsed, dried, conditioned and then sterilized. We found that a wide variety of chemicals were used to clean hands, surfaces and equipment. The nature and appropriate methods of use of these chemicals were not widely known. Understanding the chemical composition of these chemicals makes it possible to classify them into cleaning agents, detergents, decontaminating agents and disinfectants. The definition, choice and use of antiseptics and disinfectants should be strictly controlled. It is also vital that single-use disposable items are used only once and are never reused. Hygiene in the dental surgery is a chain of processes aimed at protecting the patient and the medical staff. There are many links in the chain, involving floor and surface hygiene, hand washing by dentists and dental assistants, washing of surgery linen and treatment of equipment. Dental practitioners should continually focus on ensuring that the chain of hygiene procedures is not broken, in their own interests as well as in those of their patients.

The authors study dental decay in the first permanent molar among school children in Dimbokro (Côte d'Ivoire). The study, carried out on 1050 children aged between 7 to 16, revealed a low CAO index but a frequency index greater than 50%.

A dental morphology study is of great importance because it allows norms to be established which are adapted to the Ivorian situation. After a study of the canal morphology, we became involved in a study of the canal dimensions of the first permanent molars amongst Ivorian children. As a part of the 260 mouldings taken from 67 boys and 63 girls, we measured the following diametres: the diametre masio-distal (O-M-D) taken between the edge of the mesial bone and the edge of the distal bone. the biggest vestibulo-lingual coronary diametre (OV-LC). the diametre of the vestibulo-lingual at the level of the occlusal table (OV-LC). The data collected allowed us to reach the following conclusions: the first secondary molar with a M-D diametre (10.64 mm) is more important than the M-D diametre of its homologeous upper (10.15). however there is no significant difference between the OV-LC diametre of the first maxillary molar and that of the first mandibular molar. concerning the M-D or V-L diametres, the difference between the left side of the maxillary as with the mandibular is negligble. It's worth noting that the first permanent molar is smaller for girls when compared to boys, as well as their M-D diametres compared to their V-L. A comparative study between the TALLEC and MARSEILLIER plates showed that: the first upper molar for Ivorian children has a M-D diametre practically identical to that of European children, however the V-L and OV-LC diametres are smaller. the first bottom molar slightly bigger in all M-D and V-L diametres in Ivorian children in comparison to European children.

The authors report on a study done in the Côte d'Ivoire, about the amount of fluoride in drinking water. The cartography of fluoride shows amounts lower than 0.7 ppm. This small amount of fluoride partially explains the increase in the number of dental caries in the Côte d'Ivoire.