Nigeria needs 300,000 dental surgeons to boost oral healthcare – Don

Prof. Felix Chukwuneke, a renowned oral and maxillofacial surgeon, on Monday said the country needed no less than 300,000 dental surgeons to boost oral health care.

Chukwuneke, who is the Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) said the number was at least the minimum to cover the 36 states and Abuja.

The don, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu Campus of the institution, advocated for more dental surgeons to ensure the oral health of Nigerians.

He said that the current number of dental surgeons in the country was inadequate to take care of a population of about 190 million people.

“For now, the number of oral and maxillofacial surgeons is inadequate considering the importance of oral health to the life of any person.

“When you also consider the country’s population of about 190 million people, you see that we needed more oral and maxillofacial surgeons,’’ he said.

The dean encouraged more students to study dentistry as the employment potential of the course was high within and outside the country.

“The course is very lucrative globally and it has a bright future prospect,’’ Chukwuneke.