A Scoping Review of School-Based Oral Health Interventions among Adolescents in Nigeria

Abel Chukwuemeka¹Richard Oveh²Anita Dabar¹Omorinola Afolabi³Saheed Ademola Ibraheem⁴Folahanmi Akinsolu⁵Abideen Salako⁵Omolola T. Alade⁶Foluso Owotade⁶George Uchenna Eleje⁷Oliver Chukwujekwu Ezechi⁵Joanne Lusher⁸Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan^5,6*

• ¹Lead City University, Ibadan, Nigeria
• ²University of Delta, Agbor, Delta, Nigeria
• ³Moshood Abiola Polytechnic,, Abeokuta, Nigeria
• ⁴National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Zaria, Kaduna, Nigeria
• ⁵Center for Reproduction and Population Health Studies, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research (NIMR), Lagos, Nigeria
• ⁶Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Osun, Nigeria
• ⁷Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria
• ⁸Regent's University London, London, United Kingdom

This scoping review aimed to map school-based oral health interventions for adolescents in Nigeria and to identify gaps that can be addressed to promote optimal oral health in the population. This scoping review is registered with Open Science Framework (OSF) Registries (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/CMRV4). An electronic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, African Journals Online, and Google Scholar for papers focused on oral health interventions implemented in schools in Nigeria, involving adolescents, and published in English between January 2000 and July 2024 was retrieved. Information extracted included study characteristics (author, year, study design), study population characteristics, type of interventions, focus, and key findings. The search yielded 392 results, with five studies meeting the eligibility criteria. All studies focused on oral health education and education were delivered verbally. Four studies assessed the effect of education on oral hygiene practices, three assessed the effect on the consumption of refined carbohydrates, two measured dental service utilization as an outcome, and one assessed smoking cessation. One study showed that peer-and teacher-led models demonstrated comparable effectiveness, making them viable in resourcelimited settings. This scoping review found that school-based oral health interventions effectively improved oral hygiene among adolescent populations in Nigeria though the few studies skewed to southern Nigeria make it difficult to generalize findings to Nigeria.