Lagos State Government said yesterday that it would set new Guinness World Record by attempting a tooth brushing challenge with 300,000 participants simultaneously.
The government said it would surpass India, which holds the current highest record with 170,000 persons, urging residents to go for regular check up of their teeth, at least once in a year.
The Special Adviser to the governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adeshina, who disclosed this at a press conference heralding this year’s World Oral Health Day, said pupils in primary and secondary schools in the state would be fully engaged in the challenge.
According to her, people with poor dental hygiene risk the challenge of heart disease.
Also speaking at the conference, the National President of the Nigeria Dental Association, NDA, Dr. Rotimi Olojede, warned on the need to take oral hygiene seriously, saying the teeth the is the gateway to the body.
On how the challenge would take place, the Project Head of the World Record Tooth Brushing Challenge, Dr. Bakare Lawal, explained that 1,000 students would be drawn from each of 300 selected schools in the state.
Lawal said the World Tooth Brushing Challenge was designed and implemented by some young dental professionals with support from the Lagos State Ministry of Health and the NDA.
Harping on the significance of the World Health Oral Day, he explained that the occasion provides a platform for stakeholders to brainstorm and find solution to challenges faced by people with teeth problems.
On her part, the state NDA Chairman, Dr. Lara Agbaje, advised people with tooth challenge to avoid extraction, saying Dentistry had developed to take care of it.
She noted that healthy teeth play a crucial role in the ability of man to function well.
According to Bakare, the choice of adolescents in schools was informed by the belief that they are at a stage where new behaviours emerge which may likely be taken into the adult life.