Traditional practice as a cause of infant morbidity and mortality in Juba area (Sudan)

In 56 (70%) of 80 infants with diarrhoea and vomiting admitted to Sabbah Children's Hospital emergency department, their canine milk teeth had been incriminated as being the cause of the disease and hence extracted. Ninety-nine (90%) of the 110 mothers interviewed admitted that the canine teeth of their infants were extracted following diarrhoea and vomiting. Seventy per cent of this group claimed that their infants improved after extraction. Canine milk teeth extraction is widely practised among the uneducated and those who had junior education and above. Recommendations to inhibit this bad practice are outlined and forwarded to the authorities concerned.