Impact of Insurgency-Related Displacement on Access to Oral Surgical Care Among Internally Displaced Persons in Adamawa State

Armed conflict and forced displacement create profound disruptions to healthcare access, with internally displaced persons (IDPs) frequently deprived of essential oral surgical services due to geographic dislocation, destruction of health infrastructure, and inadequate humanitarian oral health programming. In Adamawa State, North East Nigeria, ongoing insurgency has produced a large IDP population with limited documented oral health burden. This mixed-methods study investigates the barriers to oral surgical care access and the prevalence of urgent oral surgical conditions among IDPs residing in five displacement camps in Adamawa State. A structured oral health examination using WHO methodology was conducted on 380 IDPs, complemented by in-depth interviews with 20 purposively selected camp residents and focus group discussions with IDP camp health coordinators. Findings indicate that 61.3% of IDPs had at least one dental condition warranting urgent oral surgical intervention, including dental abscesses, fractured teeth, pericoronitis, and untreated traumatic injuries from conflict-related violence. Only 12% of camp residents had accessed any oral health service since displacement. Barriers identified include complete absence of dental services in camp health posts, financial destitution, fear of leaving camp perimeters, and lack of awareness of available facilities. The study highlights a critical oral health gap in humanitarian programming in North East Nigeria and recommends the integration of basic oral surgical outreach into the emergency health response framework for displaced populations. Keywords: internally displaced persons, oral surgery access, insurgency, Adamawa, humanitarian health.