Searching the Resource Information Network
Are you sure you want to leave this community? Leaving the community will revoke any permissions you have been granted in this community.
Infant oral mutilation (IOM) is a traditional method of extracting un-erupted teeth practiced in several Sub-Saharan African countries including Uganda. This practice is referred to as "ebinyo" by Bantu-speaking Ethnic groups, though it has several terms depending on cultural group and researcher. The un-erupted tooth is gouged out as a cure for medical symptoms in infants that include high fevers and diarrhea. The spreading of IOM practice in African populations is blamed on poor health literacy with regard to the common childhood illnesses. One study in Uganda revealed that adverse cases following IOM seen in the hospital peaked in tandem with the malaria and diarrheal disease cases. This paper is a review of the practice with a particular focus on Uganda as presented in literature compiled from PubMed, Dentaid, Google Scholar, Local Uganda sources, and the authors' observations. The paper explains reason for the persistence of the practice, and to further inform on IOM to health practitioners who were previously unaware of the practice.
Pubmed ID: 28770190
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
Public bibliographic database that provides access to citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. Citations may include links to full-text content from PubMed Central and publisher web sites. PubMed citations and abstracts include fields of biomedicine and health, covering portions of life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemical sciences, and bioengineering. Provides access to additional relevant web sites and links to other NCBI molecular biology resources. Publishers of journals can submit their citations to NCBI and then provide access to full-text of articles at journal web sites using LinkOut.
View all literature mentions