Professor Idia Ize-Iyamu has lamented the dearth of orthodontists in Nigeria, noting that the 70 practitioners in the country are inadequate to serve over 200 million Nigerians.
Speaking at the 262 inaugural lecture of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) yesterday, Prof Ize-Iyamu said according to the Nigeria Association of Orthodontists (NOA), the ratio is one orthodontist to 2.7million people as at 2019.
She noted that this is in sharp contrast to the United States of America where there is one orthodontist to 5,054 people, noting that the figures were also encouraging in European countries and the UK.
She called for the training of more specialists in Nigeria to meet the ratio obtained in developed countries.
She noted that the trainer-to-trainer ratio at the West African College of Surgeon, and the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria is one consultant orthodontist to three and four doctors respectively, adding, “This makes the pace slow, given the number of training centres are also few.”
She said that out of the 70 orthodontists in the country, there were currently 10 professors in Nigeria with four in Lagos, three in Benin, two in Ife and one in Port Harcourt.
She added,” There are only nine accredited dental schools for undergraduate training which involves teaching orthodontist as a subject and part of the curriculum.
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