Oral mucosal lesions and temporomandibular joint impairment of elderly people in the South East Local Government Area of Ibadan

Objective: To determine the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions, temporomandibular joint (TMJ) impairment and oral health‐related habits in the elderly people in South East Local Government Area (SELGA) in Ibadan. Background data: SELGA is one of the largest local government areas in Oyo State, Nigeria and has a population of 225 800. Design: A cross‐sectional survey. Methodology: A randomly selected sample of 690 elderly people from 23 wards in SELGA were examined by two trained and calibrated examiners using mirror, probe and natural light. Results: One hundred and fifty‐five (22.46%) of the elderly examined had one or more oral pathology lesions, representing infection‐related swelling, non‐infection‐related swelling, pre‐malignant lesions, denture stomatitis, non‐denture based ulcers, angular cheilitis, geographic tongue, scrotal tongue, lichen planus, hyper‐pigmentation and TMJ impairment. Fifty‐five (35.5%) of these pathologies were infection‐related swellings. Six (3.9%) of the pathologies were denture‐related stomatitis, 14(9.03%) were pre‐malignant lesions, 14(9.03%) were non‐infection‐related swelling, while 27 (17.4%) were TMJ impairment. The rest of the lesions constituted the remaining 25.1%. Only 15.9% of the participants had tobacco‐related habits, 10.7% drank alcohol, whilst 41.6% chewed kola nuts. Conclusion: Oral pathoses prevalence (22.46%) was similar to findings in developed countries (29.9%) but with a reversal of causal factors, infection‐related swellings were more common, whereas pre‐malignant lesions were less common. The infections were mostly complications from periodontal disease, which culminated in abscess formation. Tobacco‐related habits were not highly prevalent among the elderly people in SELGA. However, oral pathoses resulting from nutritional deficiencies were the third most frequent lesions observed.