Oral Hygiene with Dr Mike Loyibo Pere featuring guest Dr Ayoola.

It was yet another inciteful episode on THE CLINIC on Aspherictv as Dr Mike Loyibo hosted the guest dental surgeon Dr Ayoola Olushola while he educated the viewers on dental health and hygiene.

The programme took a comprehensive look at dental disorders and their causes, maintenance of dental health and ways to care for our teeth and mouth as parts of our body.

Dr Ayoola who stressed the importance of good dental hygiene also stated that diseases such as diabetes and HIV/AIDS can be identified in their earlier stages with regular visits to a dentist.

“When we also say the mouth is the mirror of the body, what we mean to say is that diseases that will eventually be manifested, full-blown, can easily be elicited by a well-trained dental surgeon. For example, diabetes can easily manifest in the mouth and a trained clinician will be able to pick it when a client or patient visits the clinic. Even HIV/AIDS, the manifestation you see in the tongue and teeth will eventually be manifested in the oral cavity. That describes how the mouth can mirror the whole body.”

Doctor Olushola who stressed the need to brush twice a day, advised the public to brush once before bed and once after breakfast.

“It is recommended that you brush your teeth twice daily, the last thing before going to bed at night and after your breakfast. Brushing your teeth before going to bed at night means that there is no bacterial load and food debris in your mouth, so you rinse your mouth with water, have breakfast and brush your teeth after that.

The condition called septicemia is caused when oral bacteria are colonized by the oral bacteria of the mouth. If these bacteria are ceded through the blood vessels to the heart, it can lead to a condition that we refer to as infective endocarditis, and when the vessels and structures of the heart become infected, late diagnosis can lead to death. So, it is very important to give as much attention to our oral hygiene as we give to our body.”

Doctor Olushola further stated the cause of teeth colouration in infants saying that mothers should be mindful of substances they ingest during pregnancy.

“Certain antibiotics such as tetracycline, if abused or self-medicated by nursing mothers can cause tooth discolouration in infants because when mothers take these medications during the embryonic development of the fetus, they react with the hard tissues developing at that stage. It is advisable to consult your physician when taking such drugs.” He said.