Unilever intensifies fight against tooth decay

As part of its commitment to ensuring good dental care for all Nigerians, Unilever Nigeria Plc has charged Nigerians to cultivate consistent oral hygiene by brushing their teeth twice daily.

At an event climaxing this year’s world oral health day celebrations held at the Teslim Balogun Stadium Lagos, the Nigeria Dental Association in partnership with Pepsodent toothpaste admonished the over 3,000 primary school pupils in attendance  to brush regularly in the morning and at night in line with this year’s theme of “Healthy mouth, healthy body”.

In his goodwill message at the occasion, Lagos State Governor, Akinwumi Ambode commended the efforts of Unilever Nigeria Plc in partnering with stakeholders to raise awareness on the importance of the message of brushing twice daily, noting that it is better to prevent tooth cavities than experiencing the nightmares associated with oral problems.

The Governor who was represented at the event by the State Commissioner for Health, Jide Idris urged the partners to ensure that the message is spread to all the nooks and crannies of the State.

Speaking at the event, Vice President, Marketing, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Robbert-de Vreede said Unilever is committed to doing business in a sustainable way and that is why they have partnered with Nigerian Dental Association, Federal Ministry of Health and other stakeholders towards getting better awareness for oral health.

He said “studies have shown that ninety percent of the world’s population suffers from oral diseases. When kids are affected by such diseases they may not be able to bear the pain and such affects them in school or causes them to drop out of school for a period of time’

‘’In 2014 we initiated the oral health school program which has so far educated directly 1.8 million Nigerian children on how to imbibe the culture of brushing twice daily. This year we are educating one million children directly on how to take care of their teeth by brushing day and night using fluoride toothpaste such as Pepsodent. We believe children are change agents. They have the pester power to influence their parents, siblings and people around them by telling them to take their oral health seriously by brushing day and night with fluoridated toothpaste such as Pepsodent triple action” he added.

President Nigerian Dental Association,  Bode Ijarogbe said it is estimated that 90 per cent of the world’s population will suffer from oral disease in their lifetime and many of them can be avoided with increased governmental health association and society support and funding for prevention, detection and treatment programmes.

Ijarogbe said “the theme for this year’s celebrations “it all starts here…Healthy mouth, Healthy body” reflects the major contributions oral health makes to our lives and focuses on us as Nigerians with a view to changing our attitude with respect to our oral health needs. This theme particularly reminds us that the mouth is an integral part of the body as such systemic problems will not only manifest in the mouth but that poor oral health can also predispose to systemic problems’’.

He however noted that dental caries are largely preventable by simple daily hygiene like using fluoridated toothpaste such as Pepsodent and brushing day a night which is not yet a common practice for most people.