Gov. Ambode Emphasises Need for More Sensitisation on Oral Health

The governor said one of the problems of the mouth was due to not brushing and keeping the teeth clean.

Ambode said: “If you do not keep your teeth clean, you are going to have your teeth infected and it can cause holes and tooth ache. Then it can go through some blood vessels to other parts of the body.

“The essential thing is to keep it healthy and the best way is to brush twice daily and use tooth paste with flouride which helps to prevent caries.’’

The National President, Nigerian Dental Association, Dr Olabode Ijarogbe, said a lot of people in rural areas were still cut off from dental facilities and services which was a challenge.

According to him: “We use the World Oral Day to concentrate on reaching out to more people, particularly those in the grassroots. To let them know that the mouth is an integral part of the body and very important to take good care of it. And if that is not done, it will definitely affect the general body system’’, he added .

Ijarogbe said that brushing twice daily, regular visits to the dentist and consuming wholesome diets would ensure good oral hygiene.

He aded: “Generally, a lot of us have the habit of snacking on foods that contain refined sugar and the bacteria in our mouths tend to feed on the remnants of these foods. This will result in a lot of damage including tooth decay and gum problems. The diet is an important part to our oral health and whatever we eat, we should be sure it will be of immense benefit to the body.’’

In his contribution, the Vice President, Unilever, Mr Robert Vreede, said that the company had reached over 1.8 million Nigerian school children since 2014 when the programme started.

Vreede said that the behaviour change programme was to improve the idea of brushing day and night to improve oral health.

“The plan is by 2020, we will have reached over 10 million Nigerian school children to teach them to cultivate the habit of brushing twice a day. Because it is only this way we are able to significantly reduce oral diseases and improve hygiene and health in Nigeria”, he added.