Prevalence of tooth decay in Nigeria Compared to other developed countries, the prevalence of dental caries (tooth decay) in Nigeria could be said to be low. But the concern of dental experts is that the majority of the caries are untreated resulting ultimately in pain and tooth loss.

At an oral experts forum in Lagos recently, it was disclosed that Nigeria has a prevalence of about 90% untreated caries. More importantly is the early childhood caries. It was disclosed that caries are more common in children with a prevalence of 6.5 to 22.5 percent. While over 95.6 per cent of early childhood caries is untreated.

On the global average, a global prevalence of 35% of untreated caries was recorded while Nigeria is doing much worse than the global average of untreated caries.

It was further noted at the forum that caries and periodontal (gum problems) are most common tooth diseases in the world but are quite preventable because they are bacterial in origin. Eliminating the bacterial in the mouth leads to eliminating these diseases because 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, there are about 6 billion bacterial.

And these bacterial are the causative agents of teeth decay, periodontal disease and offensive mouth breath. Eradicating oral problems in Nigeria To eradicate oral problems, the forum agreed that education is key to preventing dental problems. It noted that people should be educated on the health of their mouth, the health of their teeth and even before their kids teeth come out.

It advised that Nigerians should see their dentist once in six months that people should not always wait until they have problems with their teeth because our mouth is the gateway to the body and poor oral health can lead to anaemia and other systematic diseases. But these can be diagnosed and nipped in the bud before it gets out of hand and the way forward is oral health education.

Pepsodent leads fight to eradicate oral problems It is on this note that Unilever Nigeria is partnering with relevant stakeholders to promote healthy oral lifestyle. Unilever Nigeria is collaborating with all stakeholders in the (oral) health sector through several programmes it has put in place to address the needs of consumers. The company has been a foremost partner with the Nigerian Dental Association and is jointly executing various programmes to deliver superior oral care to consumers and ensuring a cavity free Nigeria.

Community Outreach Showing this commitment, Pepsodent, a leading household toothpaste, through its brush day and night campaign, is engaging Nigerians to imbibe the culture of brushing twice daily, which is a global best practice to maintaining healthy oral profile. Pepsodent is taking a practical step by carrying out programmes that are of direct benefit to Nigerians, with primary focus on reaching 10 million children. As part of activities to mark 2015 World Oral Health Day, WOHD, the brand in partnership with the Nigerian Dental Association, NDA, carried out various oral awareness outreach programmes.

One of it was the free dental treatment which took place across the nation with dentists visiting Methodist Senior Secondary School, Badagry, Government Technical College, Ikorodu, Lagos, among others on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The beneficiaries also got free pack of Pepsodent toothpaste and toothbrush to assist them imbibe the culture of a healthy oral profile while more schools will be visited in the course of the year.

As declared by FDI, WOHD’s theme for this year, ‘smile for life’ is aimed at wishing everybody a lifelong and healthy smile at all ages. The theme has a double meaning, ‘lifelong smile’ and ‘celebrating life.’ Brand Building Director of Unilever Nigeria, David Okeme said that the general focus of WOHD 2015 is on prevention to help achieve a healthy smile for life and Unilever Nigeria is at the forefront of this.

“We are driving the message of brushing twice daily. As an organization, we believe in doing business in a sustainable way. For us we know that it takes a strong commitment to ensure a cavity free Nigeria. We want a situation where every Nigerian, both child and adult, is cavity free and therefore able to smile naturally “For us at Unilever, the primary way by which we are pursuing our commitment today is by providing a world class portfolio of brands.

Close-up is number one toothpaste that has been practically in every home in Nigeria for over 3 decades. And recently, we launched Pepsodent in two variants – Pepsodent Cavity Fighter and Pepsodent Triple Protection. “That is how from our primary point of view we have a strong commitment to driving a cavity free Nigeria.

Secondly we have actually taken these benefits into sachet. What we are doing through the sachet is that every Nigerian is able to buy into the benefits that come with it. With as little as N20, you can brush Day & Night,” David said.

Pepsodent’s vitality to oral healthy living! Recently, the Pepsodent Toothpaste was launched in two variants: Pepsodent Cavity Fighter combines the dual technology of micro calcium & fluoride to repair tiny holes that cause cavities/tooth decay and strengthens the teeth. While Pepsodent Triple Protection delivers three benefits of – Anti cavity, Whitening and Fresh breath in just one Brush. This unique product delivers three benefits in just one brush – Protects against Cavities/tooth decay, Stains and Bad breath!