AN expert in gum diseases, Dr Olufemi Olagundoye, has said prompt attention to teeth that are mobile and gum diseases is essential to good health, including ensuring diseases such as diabetes are better controlled.
Olagundoye, a senior lecturer at the Lagos State University College of Medicine, said in the keynote address at the fourth scientific conference and biennial general meeting of the Periodontologists’ Association of Nigeria (PAN), at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Osun State, that care of the mouth is important because of the link between poor care of the mouth and 57 different diseases in the body.
According to him, these conditions include heart disease, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and autoimmune disease, as well as poor pregnancy outcomes like preterm and low birth weight babies.
“There is an association between poor dental health and coronary heart disease, independent of age, total cholesterol, a high level of good cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes and smoking. So, if you don’t keep your mouth clean, heart disease is around the corner.
“Poor dental health has been related to 57 diseases in the body. But people don’t know that these problems are in the mouth.
“Women with poor oral hygiene end up giving birth to premature and low-birth-weight babies. If people with diabetes don’t take good care of their mouth or teeth, having good blood sugar control will be difficult,” he said.
Dr Olagundoye declared that it is wrong to have a tooth removed because it is shaking or because it has a hole in it because they can be salvaged because of advancements in technology.
“Before, if a tooth was shaking, they said to remove it, but now, we save a whole lot of them. Now we talk about the guided tissue regeneration of such a tooth, such that we now grow new bones around it to make it stable.
“A large proportion of teeth that are removed are unnecessary because there are lots of treatment techniques now available. It is only when there is no hope that the tooth is removed. Removal is not the best option.
“If there are any teeth that are shaking, swelling around the gum, or bleeding gum, go and see a periodontologist first before they are removed. But if there is a hole, you will be sent to a specialist to have it filled or have a root canal treatment.
“With each tooth that is removed, one starts to look old. Also, the efficiency of mastication is reduced. It is like going to the farm with a blunted cutlass; it will cut, but with a lot more energy applied. We wouldn’t know the effect of this stress until we had other problems.”
Professor Beatrice Ogunba, a public health nutrition expert, said in the second keynote lecture that good nutrition and an adequate intake of water are vital for oral health.
She declared that low sugar, high fibre and high omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid intake reduce the risk of gum diseases, adding that dietary counselling should be incorporated into the care of individuals with gum diseases.
Earlier, PAN’s president, Dr Solomon Nwhator, had said there are 70 periodontologists practising in Nigeria, charging the specialists to talk about the type of toothpaste to be used because it can affect the teeth and gums.
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