• Alya Isam Elgamri, Azza Tagelsir Ahmed, Omer Elfatih Haj-Siddig, and Judith R Chin.
• Department of Paediatric Dentistry, University of Khartoum, Sudan.
• Afr Health Sci. 2018 Jun 1; 18 (2): 359-368.

BackgroundThe term Infant Oral Mutilation (IOM) refers to the aggressive cultural rituals where primary canine tooth germs of infants are enucleated for therapeutic reasons.ObjectivesTo determine the prevalence and risk factors for IOM among inner city pre-school children in Khartoum.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 212 randomly selected children from twelve government pre-schools in Khartoum were examined for the presence of IOM. Socio-demographic, feeding and teething-related data were collected by self-administered questionnaires.ResultsThe mean age of the sample was 4.7 years. The prevalence of clinical IOM was 10.8%. Multivariable regression analysis revealed that children who suffered from diarrhea during teething were 7.15 times more likely to have clinical IOM over their counterparts (p<0.0001). Mothers who were educated below elementary school level were 2.69 times more likely to have children showing clinical IOM (p= 0.0369).ConclusionThe present study showed that the practice of IOM is common among inner city children. Certain teething-related symptoms especially diarrhea and maternal education could be strong determinants of the malpractice of IOM.

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