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From Magnus Eze, Enugu
Many Nigerians do not know the importance of oral health to their overall health condition. For that reason, people take little or no care of their oral cavity.
But, Raphadent Dental Consult and Laboratory Services Ltd, the only dental clinic in Ohaozara/Onicha/Ivo Federal Constituency of Ebonyi State, recently restated its determination to enhance oral health of the people of the area.
The outfi,t which is based at Okposi, in Ohaozara LGA, through its subsidiary, Raphadent Oral Health Awareness Group (ROHAG), took advantage of this year’s World Oral Health Day (WOHD), celebrated on March 20, to reach out to students there.
Daily Sun gathered that ROHAG, in partnership with Talk Health Real Media Ltd (Talkhealth9ja), with support from the National Action on Sugar Reduction, (Action on Sugar and Sweetened Beverages), took practical campaign on oral health awareness, education, sensitization and enlightenment programme to five secondary schools in Ohaozara and Onicha local government areas.
The programme which lasted from March 20th to 23rd also featured oral health diagnoses, examinations and free dental treatment to the staff and students of various schools in the two local government councils. The staff and students were also taken through the ideal process of brushing the teeth.
We learnt that the sponsors of the programme also supported Bundies Care to stage similar programme in Kogi State.
The dentist behind ROHAG, Raphael Okereke, told Daily Sun that the World Oral Health Day 2023 agenda had a strategic plan for 2021, 2022 and 2023 by maintaining the Federation Dentaire Internationale (World Dental Federation), FDI’s “Be proud of your mouth” initiative, that empowers and beckons on people to take actionable charge of their oral health with emphasis on not just having a perfect mouth but a healthy mouth.
Building on the above, Raphadent Dental Consult and ROHAG in collaboration with TalkHealth9ja Ltd utilised and brought public sensitization/good oral health education to the people, helping them to be proud of their mouth and living healthy life through healthy mouth.
Addressing the over 2000 students in the five schools, ROHAG boss told them that majority of the health problems people have are because they do not know the correlation between oral health and general health, the impact of oral health to the entire life, thereby being so careless about their oral health.
Okereke explained that many people are nonchalant and are consistently not just misled but deceived at the same time by non professionals, quacks and wrong folktales of the ancient beliefs in rural areas.
He said that these things also happen in the urban centres and they invariably influence people’s life styles and affect their health systems.
“They forget that a healthy mouth is a healthy body and that good health or life starts from carefully building a healthy mouth in one’s life and controlling what enters his oral cavity.
“Mouth being the gateway to the whole-body system, serves as the major entrance and means of introduction of some bacteria, virus, germs and all forms of diseases that affect our health and life. Many infirmities and ill heath conditions such as; hypertension, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, kidney disease, lever disease, HIV, AIDS, dental caries (holes on the teeth), periodontitis (gum disease), bleeding gum, dental plaque or calculus, mouth odour and even gastrointestinal tract disorders etc in most cases, come as a result of our carelessness on our oral health coupled with some bad oral practices,” the dentist further explained.
A public health specialist and promoter of ‘Talkhealt9ja’; a radio/tv health programme, Dr. Laz Eze, said though oral health was needed by everybody but it seemed more exigent in the rural communities where people do not have access to healthcare for reasons relating to poverty; illiteracy, lack of facilities and other factors.
He noted that a healthy mouth does not just engender good health but also gives confidence; “that’s why people with healthy mouth always beam toothy smile.”
Large format banners and exercise books with rich oral health information were made available for the education and enlightenment of the students, while oral health gift items were shared evenly to the students and staff.
Some of the patients were selected during the diagnostic examination at the event ground and treated at Raphadent Dental Consult Clinic Okposi, free of charge with the support from National Action on Sugar Reduction.
