By Mariam Olayode It often starts with something that feels manageable. A tooth that sends a sharp signal whenever something cold touches it. A swelling that appears overnight and seems, at first, like it might go away on its own.
Then amoxicillin bought from a nearby pharmacy because someone said antibiotics kill infections. When that doesn’t work, perhaps a home remedy. Something recommended by a neighbour.
All of it accompanied by the same quiet promise: “I’ll go to the dentist next week.” Working chair-side in a busy dental clinic in Lagos, I have watched this sequence unfold more times than I can count. And I have watched what happens when next week arrives too late. One thing I’ve noticed after years in this profession is that very few people come to the clinic because of a small cavity.
Most arrive because they can no longer sleep, eat, or ignore the pain. By then, what started as a routine dental problem has often had weeks—or even months—to quietly worsen. In some cases, an untreated tooth infection doesn’t remain in the mouth.
It spreads into the surrounding tissues, making it difficult to swallow, breathe, and, without urgent treatment, even survive. The people who reach this stage are rarely careless. More often, they simply waited.And for many Nigerians, there are understandable reasons why they do.
A Country With Too Few Dentists Nigeria had just 3,112 registered dentists as of 2022 serving a population of over 220 million people. That works out to roughly one dentist for every 28,000 Nigerians—far below the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio. The shortage is even more striking when you look across the country.
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