Assessment of School Dental Health Services Availability in Primary Schools in Taraba State

The absence of structured school dental health services in rural North East Nigeria perpetuates preventable childhood dental disease, and systematic assessment of service availability establishes baseline evidence for policy advocacy. This study assessed the availability and functionality of dental health services in public primary schools across Jalingo, Wukari, and Gembu Local Government Areas, Taraba State, North East Nigeria. A cross-sectional institutional survey was conducted across 60 public primary schools using structured facility assessment checklists and key informant interviews with head teachers and available health teachers. Variables assessed included the presence of dental health in the school curriculum, availability of dental health education materials, frequency of dental outreach visits, dental first aid supplies, and referral pathways to dental facilities. Results showed that dental health content was included in the curriculum of only 23.3 percent of schools. Dental health education materials were available in only 18.3 percent of schools. None of the surveyed schools had received a dental outreach visit in the preceding two academic years. Dental first aid kits were absent in 91.7 percent. No formal referral pathway to dental services existed in any school. Head teachers indicated high willingness to incorporate dental health activities. Recommendations include a Taraba State School Dental Health Programme, provision of curriculum-aligned dental health materials, periodic dental outreach visits by TASO and dental students from universities in the North East zone, and training of teachers as dental health champions.

Keywords: school dental health services, primary schools, Taraba State, dental outreach, oral health education