Dental experts alert over rise in oral health problems

EXPERTS in dental care have alerted over rising cases of oral health problems in the country. They say increasing incidence of dental caries, otherwise known as tooth decay and periodontal (gum diseases) has become a source of worry and that greater percent of all tooth related issues emanates from poor oral hygiene.

      The experts in their submissions at a scientific conference on oral health held Lagos week in Lagos and sponsored Unilever Nigeria, makers of Pepsodent toothpaste, said 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.

       Consultant Community Dentist, Preventive Dentistry Department, Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Dr. Oyinkan Sofola, said the concern for the experts is that the majority of the caries are untreated resulting in ultimately pain and tooth loss.

     He said: “We have a prevalence of about 90 per cent 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 per cent 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.”

       National President of Nigerian Dental Association (NDA), Dr. Bode Ijarogbe, 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.

      “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,” he said.

     Brand Manager, Pepsodent, Unilever Nigeria, Mr. George Umoh, said: “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.”

     Ijarogbe also noted that tooth decay sometimes degenerates to abscess formation. He explained: “This 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.”

     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 six billion bacteria. And these bacteria are the culprit in teeth decay, periodontal disease and offensive mouth breath.”