While Nigeria lacks sufficient data on its
state of oral health, more worrisome is
that teeth problems are not reported until
they have developed so massively that
surgery becomes so difficult if not
impossible.
For instance, while dental caries (tooth
decay) which experts said to be between 6
to 23 per cent among Nigerians, 90 per cent
of the patients are untreated resulting to
pain and tooth loss.
At the gathering of oral health experts in
Lagos, it was further revealed that Nigeria
is doing worse than global average on
early childhood untreated caries.
Doctor OyinkanSofola, Consultant,
Community Dentist, Preventive Dentistry
Department, Lagos University Teaching
Hospital, who was among the panellists at
the Oral Health Expert Forum organised by
Unilever Nigeria in conjunction with the
Nigerian Dental Association, NDA on ‘Your
Teeth, Your Health, And You’ in Lagos, said
that oral health is a component of overall
wellbeing and should not be thought of
being separate from the health of rest of
the body, adding that a person is not well
systemically if he is not well orally.
She said, “Compared to other developed
countries, the prevalence of dental caries
in the country could be said to be low. It is
between 13.9 to 28 percent, but the last
national oral health count we had in
Nigeria was done 20yrs ago, so there is a
need to update the data on our dental
profile.
“However, the concern for us is that the
majority of the caries are untreated. While
we have low caries prevalence in Nigeria
as compared to other countries, most are
untreated resulting inultimately pain and
tooth loss. We have a prevalence of about
90% untreated caries.
“More importantly is the early childhood
caries. We tend to see caries in children.
We have a prevalence of 6.5 to 22.5
percent. Over 95.6 per cent of early
childhood caries is untreated. On the
global average, we have a global
prevalence of 35% of untreated caries.
Nigeria is doing much worse than the
global average of untreated caries.” She
said.
Doctor Mrs.AdebimpeAdebiyi, Director,
dentistry Division, Federal Ministry of
Health noted that most of the time, patients
come in at the late hour, adding that if
these common conditions can be treated at
the early stage, then Nigerians will have a
better oral health practice.
On the lack of adequate dental data, Doctor
Adebimpe said, “Dental profile is missing in
the National Information system format in
this country. There are some disasters that happened in this country that we have to send specimens from the patients abroad
before their bodies could be identified. And
for other forensic measures, we realised
that dental profiling is a must for us to do.
“As such, the dentistry division is
collaborating with the department of
health planning, research and statistics of
the ministry and other stakeholders for the
inclusion of dental profile of Nigerians in
the National Information system format,”
she said.
Prof. Adeyemi Olusile, a Professor of Dentistry
at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife; Dr.
Bode Ijarogbe, President, Nigerian Dental
Association (NDA); Mr. David Okeme, Brand
Building Director, Unilever Nigeria; Dr. (Mrs)
Bimpe Adebuji, Director/Head, Dentistry
Division, Federal Ministry of Health; Dr.
Olubunmi Okunnu, Senior Dental Officer, Lagos
State Ministry of Health, and Mr. Kosala
Hewamadduma, Regional Brand Devt Director,
Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria, at the Oral Health
Expert Forum organised by Unilever Nigeria in
conjunction with the Nigerian Dental
Association, NDA on ‘Your Teeth, Your Health,
And You’ in Lagos, last Thursday.
On his part, another panellist,
Prof.AdeyemiOlusile, a professor of
Dentistry at the ObafemiAwolowo
University, Ile Ife, said caries (tooth decay)
and periodontal (gum problems) are most
common tooth diseases in the world but
are quite preventable because they are
bacterial in origin.
“Eliminate the bacterial and you eliminate
the diseases. But co-habiting with the teeth
and gums in every mouth are bacterial that
exceed the number of people who live on
earth. In every mouth, we have about 6
billion bacterial. And these bacterial are
the culprit in teeth decay, periodontal
disease and offensive mouth breath.
“Orofacial cancers are the 6th most
common worldwide and they originate
from the oral cavity and adjacent
structures. In Nigeria, the prevalence may
not be significantly more than in other
parts of the world. It is seen between 20 and
25 out of every 100,000 population. But
more so worrisome around here is that
they are not presented until they have
developed so massively that surgery
becomes so difficult if not impossible. And
the consequence mobility is fairly high.
To eradicate oral problems, the panellists
agreed that education is key to preventing
dental problems. “Be educated on the
health of your mouth, the health of your
teeth and even before your kids teeth come
out. You should see your dentist once in six
month. You don’t wait until you have a
problem with your teeth and be sure that
everything is fine. Like one of my family
members had rightly said, our mouth is the
gateway to the body. Poor oral health can
lead to anaemia and other systematic
diseases. We can diagnose them and nip
them in the bud before they get out of
hand. What then is the way forward? The
way forward is oral health education,” said
Dr. Lola Orenuga, Consultant Paediatric
Dentist, Child Dental Health Dept, LUTH.
It in on this note that Unilever Nigeria is
partnering with relevant stakeholders to
promote healthy oral lifestyle.
According to George Umoh, Brand
Manager,Pepsodent, Unilever Nigeria, “it is
in an attempt to address specific needs and
solve everyday problem of consumers and
in a bid to address the needs within the
oral care sector that we have often rolled
out products that impact on healthy
lifestyle positively.To further address the
pressing oral health issues as presented by
the experts above, we are introducing-
Pepsodent Triple Protection Toothpaste – a
unique formulation that helps protect
against Cavities/tooth decay, Stains and Bad
breath!
“We are also collaborating with all
stakeholders in the (oral) health sector
through several programmes we have put
in place to address the needs of consumers
and this forum is one of such. Unilever
Nigeria has been a foremost partner with
the Nigerian Dental Association and would
be jointly executing various programmes in
the course of the year to deliver superior
oral care to consumers and ensuring a
cavity free Nigeria,” he said.
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