Evaluation of the Oral Status of Persons Living with Epilepsia in a Rural Community in Togo

Purpose: Epilepsy, one of the most common brain disorders in the world, is a universal disease with multiple causes, often curable. Frequent seizures are the cause of trauma of all kinds, wounds, fractures, burns. Lesions often concern the face and the oral sphere. This study took place in a rural environment, in Nadoba in the Tamberma country, in the north of Togo, and concerned people who had been enclosed in a valley for several hundred years. Objective: We therefore set out to assess the state of oral health among persons living with epilepsia in the Tamberma environment. Method: This was a cross-sectional survey conducted from 30 November 2001 to 29 January 2002 and covering 10 of the 13 villages in Nadoba. The choice of population was random and used door-to-door. The methodology was inspired by the protocol drawn up in 1980 by the WHO concerning surveys in developing countries. Oral pathologies have been studied in two different populations of epileptics and non-epileptics. Results: Oral pathology was studied in 98 people with epilepsy (PE) screened and 200 people without epilepsy (PNE) among the 6249 inhabitants of Nadoba. The proportion of gingival hypertrophy was significantly (p=0.0001) higher in EPs than in NEPs (p=5.77 1012). The proportion of traumatized anterior teeth was higher in EPs than in NEPs (p=1.15 108). Lingual scars were only noted in EPs: 13 cases (13.26%). Conclusion: This work has made it possible to account for the importance of oral lesions in this rural community and in epileptics in particular in order to set up a prevention policy within the framework of primary health care.