Table 2.

SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis of the Nigerian oral health care system

Strengths	Weaknesses
1 Availability of oral health services through the public sector in all states and through the private sector in many states 2 Approximately 3000 registered dentists 3 Available capacity for training more human resources 4 The National Oral Health Policy focuses on improving access to care 5 The recently adopted Oral Health Policy focuses on the integration of oral health with other health services	1 Low access to care because most clients have low awareness of the need for oral health care and cannot afford the cost of care 2 Inequitable distribution of the oral health care workforce 3 Inequitable distribution of available oral health care facilities 4 Absence of a regulatory body to monitor and regulate the activities of oral health care professionals
Opportunities	Threats
1 National oral health awareness programmes sponsored by agencies such as the World Federation of Dentists (FDI) 2 More interest in oral health issues at global and national levels 3 More public than private oral health facilities 4 Primary health care facilities are available in every local government area with potential for developing public oral health services 5 More training facilities are being developed for dentistry, especially in the north of the country, where access is particularly poor 6 Provision of oral health services on the National Health Insurance Scheme 7 Training of more allied dental professionals, thus increasing the availability of middle-level oral health professionals	1 Oral health is given low priority in the health care system 2 No clear guidelines and strategies to address oral health issues nationally 3 Lack of political will to incorporate oral health care into primary health care 4 Inadequate human and financial capacity to provide and manage oral health services 5 Lack of coordination between the oral health sector and other sectors 6 Weak leadership for oral health in the Federal Ministry of Health 7 Poor knowledge of and attitudes towards oral health 8 Poor attitudes of health workers towards the integration of oral health into general health care 9 Migration of oral health care workers to other professions and other countries 10 Meagre budgetary allocations to oral health care at all levels of governance