Missing primary teeth due to tooth bud extraction in a remote village in Tanzania

The practice by traditional healers of extracting tooth buds as a cure for diarrhoea and fevers in children has existed in Tanzania for many years, but its extent is not known. This paper reports on the prevalence of missing primary teeth due to this practice among children living in Manghweta, a remote village in Tanzania. All children (n = 262) aged 5 years and below were examined for missing primary teeth. Only cases in which mothers confirmed that tooth bud extraction had been performed were recorded. Tooth buds had been extracted from 37.4% of the children. The majority of extractions (60.5%) were from the lower jaw, and almost all (99.4%) were canines. Tooth bud extraction was always bilateral. It is concluded that the practice of extracting tooth buds as a cure for diarrhoea and fevers in children still exists in Tanzania.