How dentistry faculty marked World Oral Day

The students were taken round the faculty’s facilities and lectured on the importance of oral health and studying dentistry as a career.Explaining the essence of the day, the Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Prof Adetokunbo Adebola said the day was dedicated to create awareness on oral health worldwide. He said that they have decided to focus […]

The students were taken round the faculty’s facilities and lectured on the importance of oral health and studying dentistry as a career.
Explaining the essence of the day, the Dean, Faculty of Dentistry, Prof Adetokunbo Adebola said the day was dedicated to create awareness on oral health worldwide.
He said that they have decided to focus this year’s celebration on students because they are the leaders of tomorrow.
While speaking on the stage of oral health in Nigeria, Adebola said awareness about oral health among Nigerians is very poor. “The awareness is very poor.
A lot of people are not aware of how to take care of their teeth, they are not aware of the importance of having good oral health, they are not aware of the implication of poor oral health,” he said.
According to him, the reason for the poor oral health awareness was because “most of the oral health services are mainly concentrated in the urban region, so majority of Nigerians have no real access to oral health.
He stressed the need to take oral health to the primary level where people reside.
Doing that would enable people know that dental centers are not there just to pull out their teeth but rather to protect it.
Explaining some of the factors responsible for dental conditions Adebola who is a retired Wing Commander said the types of food people eat and the way our mouths are cleaned are responsible for tooth decay.
According to him refined carbohydrates such as sweets and other sugary foods eaten could lead to dental problems if the mouth is not properly cleaned.
Tooth decay, the dentist said, happens when acids wear away the tooth’s hard surface layer called enamel.
These acids are made by a sticky film called plaque. Plaque has germs that feed on sugary foods.
The process of digesting these sugars makes acids that attack tooth surfaces.
Over time, he observed that tooth decay could cause holes in the tooth surface which are called cavities, if left untreated the cavities could get bigger and lead to the destruction of the tooth.
On how to take care of the teeth, Dr Balarabe Sani of the same faculty said people should be watchful of the food they eat, saying eating lots of sugary foods is not good for the teeth.
He advised that people should cut down snacks in between meals, “this will help prevent plaque from producing acid. It will also reduce the number of times your teeth are exposed to acids.”
He also advised people to take plenty of water especially after taking some medicines, “Some medicines can decrease the amount of saliva your body makes. This may put you at greater risk for tooth decay.”
Dr Sani said that our mouth should be washed twice a day with tooth paste or with fluoride, “Fluoride helps make tooth surfaces harder and stronger.”
He also advised people to cultivate the habit of visiting dental centers for checkups, saying such visits would enable the dentist to check for cavities and also help in cleaning the teeth in a proper way.
Commenting on the faculty; which is the newest faculty in Bayero University established in 2008 and will graduate its first dentists next year; the Dean said the dental center in Kano is the best in the whole country.
He added that there was no other service that one would not get at the centre.
He added that the faculty is well equipped with state of the art facilities that is of high standard.
He said that they have decided to celebrate the day with secondary students to encourage them  establish oral health club in their respective schools, saying through such clubs, people would get more awareness on oral health education.
Most of the students have shown their interest in studying dentistry for a career.