Background: Dental attendance is one of the core indicators of oral health evaluation and awareness. Oral health has been demonstrated to be an integral component of general health, with a serious impact on quality of life and overall well-being. There are diverse reasons why patients seek dental care. Pain, bad breath (halitosis), tooth mobility, routine check-up, swelling, trauma and aesthetics are some major reasons for which patients attend out-patient dental clinic. Objective: This study seeks to determine the demographics of patients’ attendance and distribution of their presenting complaints in a Nigerian tertiary dental centre. Materials and methods: This is a retrospective observational study carried out at the Dental Centre of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Nigeria. The data was obtained from the Oral Diagnosis clinic attendance register and were those who, presented with new complaints to the Oral Diagnosis clinic, over a period of one year spanning July 2016 to June 2017. Data such as patients’ age group, gender and presenting complaint(s) were retrieved from the register and recorded on data forms, categorizing their dental complaints into ten (10) categories. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 22. Descriptive statistics such as proportions were expressed as percentages. Data was presented in tables and charts. Results: A total of 3836 patients attended the Oral diagnosis clinic over the study period but only 3636 patients who had their data complete were included in this study. More female patients, 1970 (54.2%) than male patients 1666, (45.8%) attended the clinic. People in the third and fourth decade of life accounted for the highest proportion seeking dental care, being 19.9% and 18.3% respectively. This is closely followed by those in the fifth decade (14.0%), and then, those aged below 20 years of age, who together accounted for 34.6%. Pain was the major complaint among patients attending the LASUTH Dental Clinic, accounting for 55.2%, followed by routine check-up/prophylaxis which accounted for 10.6%. Discussion: The female preponderance of patients seeking dental care is consistent with other studies within and outside Africa [1, 2]. This may not be unconnected with self- consciousness, typically associated with women. It has been previously observed that self -perception of need, particularly perceived severity of complaint, may inform utilization of oral health services [1, 3]. While some authors have corroborated that people within the third and fourth decade comprise the highest proportion of those who seek dental care, others have Shown that though they form the age-group that may perceive the need but attend dental clinic less [4]. Similar to our study, pain is noted to account for as much as 60% to 72% of reasons for dental attendance in other African studies [2, 3]. Unlike in developed countries who record between 40% to 80% of routine dental visits among adults [1], our study reveal a dismal 10.6% for routine visits of all attending dental patients. Conclusion: Dental-related pain remains a significant reason for patients seeking dental care. There’s relative oral health awareness in the Lagos metropolis and its feeder areas. Oral health education should be intensified and targeted at adolescents and young adults who are likely to inculcate lifelong health-seeking habits.