DENTISTS who gathered in Lagos, under the umbrella of Nigeria Dental Association (NDA), Lagos State branch on Monday, lamented Nigerians poor awareness of oral health.

Speaking at the occasion, NDA, Lagos State branch chairperson Dr (Mrs.) Lateefah Lara Agbaje pointed out that lack of proper oral hygiene often results in mouth cancers eventually, noting that many Nigerians do not understand the need to brush their mouth both in the morning and last thing at night. Brushing regularly, she said, especially last thing at night takes care of residual bacteria in the mouth which when left unattended to results in various mouth infections.

The theme of the sensitization forum was Oral Ulcerations and Pre-cancerous Lessons and according to Dr. Agbaje; many Nigerians these days are coming down with oral cancers due to poor oral hygiene.

She emphasized that good oral health was very essential and should include daily use of toothpastes that contain fluouride.

"Fluoride is necessary to strengthen and protect the teeth, that is why we recommend that after brushing, do not rinse out all the paste from your mouth. Simply spitting out is enough. Do not use much water to rinse out, such that you retain some of the fluoride in your mouth to strengthen your teeth and gums," she explained.

She urged all Nigerians to stop using toothpaste that had no fluoride in them.

She also urged all Nigerians to feed on nuts which contain adequate calcium that strengthen the teeth. Fruits and vegetables, she mentioned were very excellent for proper health of the teeth; while on the other hand, candies, sweets and sugary drinks are very dangerous for oral health.

"Such sweet things only make your teeth decay quickly leading to numerous oral problems," she said.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Kofo Savage, a renowned dentist who wears two caps as the current Dean of School of Dentistry, College of Medicine, University of Lagos and also Council Representative of Nigeria at World Dental Federation (FD(), mentioned that "If you have teeth problem, go to the Dentist first and not a general practitioner for prompt care," she lamented that many Nigerians ignorantly go to a general doctor and many such doctors often times do not refer the patient to a dentist quickly. Valuable time is lost, and the patients problem thus gets worse before help of a dentist is sought.

Prof. Savage also mention that it was very important for all dentists to imbibe the spirit of team work and thus come together to form a stronger workforce capable of giving Nigerian excellent oral care services. She urged all dentists in the country to embrace new technology advances and make dentistry more rewarding to the patients oral health.

She also urged the dentists to practice infection control with use of gloves, face shields and all the required measures to avoid spreading infections from the dentist care room to the outside world.