Paediatric Dentistry is the branch of Dentistry dealing with children from birth through adolescence. It is an age-defined specialty that provides primary, comprehensive preventive and therapeutic oral health care for infants and children through adolescence, including those with special health care need. Paediatric dentists promote the dental health of children as well as serve as educational resources for parents.

Nigerian children who make up about 45% of the Nigerian population are known to have dental problems as against the erroneous beliefs that Africans have no dental problems aside those associated with ageing.

The objectives of paediatric dentistry include giving comfort, relieving pain, controlling infection and restoring function, promoting optimal oral health by prevention and education, allaying fear and anxiety, modifying the child’s behaviour and parental guidance and counselling.

The mouth as the gateway to the body reflects the general health and wellbeing of an individual. The mouth can also be a barrier to, as well as a portal for infection into the body. Oral health is an integral component of general health and it influences how children grow, look, speak, taste food, chew, swallow food and drink, and socialize.

The lecture highlights the major sub-divisions in the specialty, which include orofacial anomalies, teething and teething problems, infective lesions in children, oral health of children with special needs and interceptive orthodontics.

Lack of knowledge especially among caregivers is the major source of gap in the child oral health.

The lecture highlights some determinants of oral health in children in our environment and these were found to include diet modification, cultural practices and dental service utilization among others.

In order to bridge the observed gap, public enlightenment programs were provided and they included use of posters which was believed would go a long way in reducing some misconceived ideas pervading the communities about teething and tooth eruption, also oral health education programs were organized for school children and in some cases for their parents/ caregivers.

A child’s health-related attitude and behaviour are taught and adopted at home, and modelled on parental and family examples through the primary socialization process. Parent’s dis-approval of risky behaviours contribute to their children’s healthy lifestyles. Therefore, parents especially mothers’ play critical roles in the success of any oral health behaviour modification efforts for children. It is important for parents and caregivers to promote the development of healthy oral health habits early in life of the child and regard primary dentition as being important to the wellbeing of the child.

As the importance of child oral health increases, parents must understand the importance of the dentition, irrespective of the age of the child. Parents must also help to modify harmful lifestyle and help their children adopt a healthier one especially as it relates to diet and snacking. The need to integrate oral health into primary health care setting, where education on nutrition and importance of oral health is provided to women of child-bearing age, especially at the antenatal care centres is paramount. Improving oral health of children will guarantee their wellbeing and quality of life. A better foundation for good adult oral health will be laid. All efforts must be geared towards achieving this.