Tackling Nigeria’s hidden burden of oral diseases
Oral health rarely dominates public health conversations, yet its impact is both pervasive and profound. Beneath the surface lies a silent epidemic—millions living with preventable conditions that compromise health, limit
Oral health rarely dominates public health conversations, yet its impact is both pervasive and profound. Beneath the surface lies a silent epidemic—millions living with preventable conditions that compromise health, limit productivity and diminish quality of life, even as awareness, access and systemic attention remain critically inadequate, reports Associate Editor ADEKUNLE YUSUF
It rarely commands urgency, yet it affects billions and quietly shapes how people eat, speak, work, and live. Oral disease—often dismissed as minor or cosmetic—has evolved into a significant public health burden with far-reaching consequences for wellbeing, productivity, and healthcare systems. In Nigeria, where access to care remains uneven and awareness limited, the crisis is both widespread and largely overlooked.
Globally, oral diseases affect an estimated 3.5 billion people, making them among the most common health conditions. Yet, unlike other major health challenges, they remain underreported and underprioritised, frequently excluded from mainstream public health discourse. In Nigeria, this hidden health crisis is amplified by a convergence of high disease prevalence, limited access to care, and systemic inefficiencies. Available data reveal a burden that is both widespread and insufficiently addressed. Periodontal disease affects between 15 and 58 per cent of adults, while dental caries—commonly perceived as a minor condition—impacts between 6 and 23 per cent of the population. More concerning is the scale of untreated cases: over 90 per cent of dental caries remain unmanaged, reflecting a system where intervention often comes too late or not at all.
Beyond headline prevalence rates, broader indicators point to a deeply embedded public health challenge. Community-level studies suggest that as many as 91 per cent of individuals present with at least one oral condition, ranging from plaque accumulation and gingivitis to more severe periodontal complications. Correspondingly, an estimated 64 per cent of Nigerians require routine dental care, while nearly one-third need urgent intervention—figures that underscore the cumulative effects of delayed or absent treatment. Access to care remains a defining constraint. Fewer than 20 per cent of Nigerians have meaningful access to dental services, and over 90 per cent of oral healthcare costs are paid out-of-pocket, placing preventive and even basic treatment beyond the reach of many households. This financial barrier is compounded by workforce limitations: with approximately 7,300 dental professionals serving a population exceeding 200 million, capacity remains critically stretched.
A crisis hiding in plain sight
Poor oral health carries consequences that extend well beyond the mouth, influencing overall health, daily functioning, and long-term wellbeing. Untreated conditions such as periodontal disease and dental caries create persistent infection and inflammation that can spread systemically, contributing to cardiovascular disease, complications in diabetes management, and respiratory infections. These risks are heightened among vulnerable populations, turning seemingly minor conditions into serious health concerns.
Functionally, the impact is significant. Pain, tooth loss, and gum disease impair chewing and swallowing, often forcing dietary changes that compromise nutrition. Speech and oral motor function may also be affected, limiting clear communication. These limitations reduce comfort, restrict food choices, and hinder full participation in social and professional life. Nutritionally, individuals with oral problems tend to avoid hard, nutrient-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables, and proteins, opting instead for softer, processed, often sugar-rich alternatives. Over time, this can lead to malnutrition, weakened immunity, and growth and developmental challenges in children. Socially and psychologically, visible dental issues and persistent discomfort can erode self-esteem, leading to embarrassment, withdrawal, and reduced confidence in interpersonal and professional interactions. Economically, the burden is equally heavy, as delayed care often results in costly treatments, while pain reduces productivity and increases absenteeism. Together, these effects highlight oral disease as a major public health concern.
Read Also: Shekarau to APC: You will hear from me in two days
The “Do The 2” campaign and behaviour change imperatives
In Nigeria, this invisibility is compounded by structural constraints—limited access to dental services, low awareness, and competing healthcare priorities—leaving millions to cope with preventable conditions that gradually erode quality of life. This reality forms the backdrop to the 2026 World Oral Health Day campaign, where stakeholders across the public and private sectors renewed calls for greater attention to oral health. Beyond the annual messaging, however, lies a deeper concern: a systemic failure to recognise oral health as an integral component of overall health.
In recent years, this burden has prompted a quiet reckoning among health stakeholders, leading to renewed efforts to reposition oral health within Nigeria’s public health architecture. For a condition so deeply embedded in everyday life, its marginalisation in policy and public discourse remains striking. Against this backdrop, the 2026 World Oral Health Day campaign emerges—not as a ceremonial observance, but as a structured attempt to confront a long-standing blind spot in health planning. Anchored on the theme “A Happy Mouth is a Happy Life,” the campaign seeks to reframe oral health in functional, rather than cosmetic, terms. The message is deliberately simple, yet strategically profound: oral health is not a peripheral concern, but a foundational determinant of overall wellbeing. It shapes nutrition, communication, employability, and social participation—dimensions that collectively define quality of life.
At the international press conference in Lagos, the President of the Nigerian Dental Association, Dr. Elias Emedom Martins, reinforced this shift in perspective. “Oral health is not only about healthy, clean teeth and gums,” he noted, “but also about how oral health affects our ability to eat, speak, learn, work, and relate with others.” His statement reflects a broader paradigm shift within global health thinking—one that recognises oral health as integral to human function, rather than a concern limited to dental aesthetics or episodic care.
Dr. Martins’ intervention is significant not merely for its content, but for its context. It comes at a time when Nigeria’s oral health indicators reveal a system under strain, where demand far outpaces capacity, and where preventable conditions remain widespread due to persistent gaps in awareness, access, and financing. In this environment, oral diseases are not simply clinical conditions; they are indicators of systemic inefficiency and unmet health needs. Yet, despite these realities, oral health continues to occupy a peripheral position in Nigeria’s health agenda. Preventive care is underutilised, while treatment is often delayed until conditions become severe. This pattern reflects a structural imbalance—one that privileges reactive intervention over proactive health management. The result is a cycle in which minor conditions escalate into complex cases, increasing both the cost and complexity of care. It is precisely this cycle that the 2026 campaign seeks to disrupt. At the centre of its strategy is the “Do The 2” initiative—a behavioural intervention designed to address one of the most fundamental gaps in oral hygiene practices: the inconsistency of daily brushing. The message is straightforward—brush twice daily, morning and night, and maintain regular dental visits—but its implications are far-reaching.
According to Lauretta Amie, Brand Manager for Pepsodent, the initiative is rooted in evidence-based behaviour change principles. The campaign is designed to reach 500,000 people across six cities—Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Abuja, and Kano—as part of a deliberate effort to combine scale with targeted behavioural impact. She emphasised that “brushing twice daily is not a luxury, but a necessity for preventing the accumulation of plaque, reducing the risk of cavities, and maintaining overall oral hygiene.” Her framing positions oral care not as an occasional activity, but as a daily discipline essential to long-term health outcomes.
The emphasis on twice-daily brushing is particularly significant in the Nigerian context, where oral hygiene practices are often inconsistent and shaped by limited awareness. According to dental health professionals, night-time brushing, in particular, plays a critical role in removing food particles and sugars accumulated throughout the day—elements that, if left unchecked, contribute to bacterial growth and tooth decay. By focusing on this simple yet impactful behaviour, the campaign seeks to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice.
However, the strength of the campaign lies not only in its messaging, but in its multi-layered approach. It integrates awareness, access, and engagement through coordinated interventions across schools, communities, and health facilities. These include educational sessions, community outreach programmes, dental check-ups, and product sampling—each designed to reinforce key messages while also providing immediate, tangible benefits. This structure reflects a broader understanding that health campaigns must operate at multiple levels to be effective. Awareness alone is insufficient if not accompanied by access to services and opportunities for action. By combining information dissemination with direct engagement, the campaign creates pathways for both behavioural change and service utilisation.
Equally important is the campaign’s reliance on partnerships. The collaboration between the Nigerian Dental Association and Unilever Nigeria Plc illustrates a growing trend in public health: the integration of private sector resources with professional and institutional expertise. Such partnerships enable wider reach, greater resource mobilisation, and more sustained engagement with target populations. For the Brand Manager, this partnership is not incidental but central to the campaign’s design. It allows for the alignment of commercial platforms with public health objectives, leveraging distribution networks, communication channels, and consumer engagement strategies to amplify impact. In doing so, it transforms a conventional product-oriented approach into a public health intervention with measurable social value.
Yet, even as these efforts expand, the structural challenges remain formidable. Nigeria’s oral health system continues to grapple with limited workforce capacity, uneven distribution of professionals, and financial barriers that restrict access to care. With fewer than 20 per cent of the population having meaningful access to dental services, and the majority of healthcare costs paid out-of-pocket, preventive care remains out of reach for many households. These constraints highlight a critical limitation of campaign-based interventions. While they are effective in raising awareness and promoting behavioural change, they cannot, on their own, resolve systemic deficiencies. Without parallel investments in infrastructure, workforce development, and healthcare financing, the impact of such campaigns will remain constrained.
Nonetheless, the value of the 2026 World Oral Health Day campaign lies in its ability to shift the conversation. It challenges entrenched perceptions that view oral health as secondary to other health priorities, and instead positions it as a central component of overall wellbeing. In doing so, it contributes to a gradual reorientation of public health priorities—one that recognises prevention as essential to sustainability. The campaign also serves as a reminder of the broader stakes involved. Oral health is not merely about clinical outcomes; it is about dignity, functionality, and participation in society. Untreated oral conditions can affect speech, limit dietary choices, reduce employability, and diminish quality of life. By addressing these issues at both the individual and systemic levels, the campaign underscores the interconnectedness of health and human development.
Ultimately, the challenge is not just to increase awareness, but to embed oral health within the structures that shape health outcomes in Nigeria. This includes integrating oral health into primary healthcare, expanding access to preventive services, and ensuring that policies reflect the full spectrum of health needs. Until then, Nigeria’s oral health burden will remain largely invisible—present in the daily experiences of millions, yet absent from the urgency of national discourse.
