By Lexi Elo
Increasing incidence of dental caries, otherwise known as tooth decay and periodontal
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(gum diseases) has become a source of worry to experts reasons being that, greater percent of all tooth related issues emanates from poor oral hygiene. According to submissions made by experts in a scientific conference on oral health, dental caries is a major oral health problem in most industrialized countries, affecting 60 to 90 percent of schoolchildren and the vast majority of adults, while periodontal has been found to be between 79 to 90 per cent of the Nigerian population.
According to Dr. Oyinkan Sofola, Consultant Community Dentist, Preventive Dentistry Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, the concern for the experts is that the majority of the caries are untreated resulting in ultimately pain and tooth loss.
According to him, “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 not doing much, her case is worse than the global average of untreated caries.
“On the other hand, periodontal disease (gum diseases) has been found to be between 79 to 90 per cent of the Nigerian population. What we are saying is that all the studies that have been done between 1960s till date reveals that we have a lot of periodontal disease in Nigeria. If we have a lot of periodontal disease in Nigeria and this is being linked to systemic disease, then we have a lot of work to do because this might lead to increasing morbidity in the nation.”
Giving more insight into the issue, Dr. Bode Ijarogbe, National President of Nigerian Dental Association, explained that diet and time factor play major roles in development or care for caries. He posited that the type of diet taken, especially those with high refined sugar and the time the diet stays in the mouth are major causes of dental caries, advising that it was best to abstain from such diets or better still, take them with meals.
According to Ijanogba, “Normally, we have bacteria in our mouth. The bacteria works on this refined sugar to produce a dilute acid which result in dissolution of hard tooth tissue. Each time we take a lot of all these high refined sugar, it retains as substrate at different corners in our mouth and then the bacteria in our mouth feeds on them to cause havoc. Sometimes, it also results in swollen gum which bleeds each time you touch it.” Ijarogbe also noted that tooth decay sometimes degenerates to abscess formation, which is why you see people with swollen jaws as a result of puss forming because of tooth decay which has come down to the base of the tooth.
Another problem that emanates from poor oral hygiene is bad breath. This is evident with an individual with pockets of infection in the mouth, and these infections results from accumulated food remnants that are not cleaned. Although other factors like: systemic diseases such as lung, kidney or liver diseases are also known to cause bad breath but the most common is poor oral hygiene.
Experts say the goodnews is that dental caries and periodontal diseases are both preventable and treatable. The experts submitted that while evidence on the link between these diseases and oral hygiene are still being gathered, preventing periodontal disease is cheaper than treating cardiovascular diseases at the maturity stage, thus the need to take oral hygiene seriously.
Speaking on common dental diseases and the etiology, Prof. Adeyemi Olusile of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife stated that the mouth is the mirror of the body, which interprets that oral health is not just about the mouth but it is intertwined with the health of the body. He stressed that periodontal disease and tooth decay which are said to be the most common tooth diseases in the world are quite preventable because they are bacterial in origin.
Olusile said, “co-habiting with the teeth and gums in every mouth are bacteria that exceed the number of people who live on earth. In every mouth, we have about 6 billion bacteria. And these bacteria are the culprit in teeth decay, periodontal disease and offensive mouth breath. Periodontal disease starts with gingivitis and this is seen as swollen red and bleeding gum. It leaves when the irritating dental pluck is removed and there is a continuation of good dental hygiene. But periodontal disease where there is pocket formation can be arrested but often the lost tissue are difficult to restore.”
To eliminate the bacteria, Ijarogbe had this to say, “take good care of your mouth, visit your dental surgeons twice a year, be mindful of the kind of diet you eat- take diet that will help cleanse the mouth. For people that take a lot of diet that contains refined sugar, like carbonated drinks, chocolate and cake, we encourage them to take them with meals. If you take them in-between meals there is tendency for them to retain in your mouth and for bacteria to act on them to cause these diseases earlier mentioned. But if you take them with meals, it is believed that apart from the activities of the tongue during the meal, which does the cleansing, you are going to brush after the meal, so the recipe is removed unlike if you take them in-between meals, the consciousness to brush or to even rinse out is not there. And make sure you brush twice daily – after your morning meal and last thing at night before you go to bed, not just brushing, brush with fluoride toothpaste.”
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH), is basing oral healthcare in Nigeria on the oral health policy developed by the ministry and approved by National Council on Health, Federal Executive Council and endorsed by National Economic Council.
Dr (Mrs.) Adebimpe Adebiyi, Head of Dentistry Division, FMOH and Chief Dental Officer of Nigeria explained that the oral health policy has 6 priority areas with oral health promotion being foremost of the priorities.
She posited that findings by the ministry reveal that dental caries is a problem in this country, which is why the ministry is embarking on National Oral health Promotion Campaign with the realization that most of the Nigerian populace do not have oral health awareness. “The ministry is of the belief that oral health awareness among the populace can lead to a change in oral hygiene,” she said.
As a foremost manufacturer in the business of addressing health issues, Unilever Nigeria Plc, keyed into the plans of the FMOH oral health policy by creating awareness and providing platform for research to finding lasting solution to oral health problems in Nigeria.
For Mr. 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. So we have often manufactured the best products and make them available in the right places to deliver the best benefits to consumers.
“We are also collaborating with all stakeholders. As a foremost manufacturer who is often in the business of addressing health issues and the needs of consumers, Unilever Nigeria has been a foremost partner with the Nigerian Dental Association to deliver superior oral care to consumers and ensuring a cavity free Nigeria.”
