Oral Care As part of activities to mark the 2019 World Oral Health Day (WOHD) slated for March 20, Unilever Ghana has created awareness and urged pupils of Star Basic School in Tema to adopt good oral care habits.
Unilever Ghana, through its Pepsodent brand, has over the years inspired public to adopt good oral hygiene by brushing day and night to prevent the decay of the teeth.
The pupils were taught songs on good oral practice, taking them through a step by step approach to the right way of brushing and were also made to compete for rewards.
As part of the campaign, the pupils were given diaries and a letter to be presented to parents to assist their wards towards brushing on twice on daily thus day and night.
Madam Patience Oforiwa Mpereh, the Unilever Ghana’s Category Manager for Oral Care, said brushing twice everyday, morning and evening, was a simple yet effective way to prevent cavities and related oral issues.
She said the benefits of brushing twice a day motivated Unilever, Ghana’s favourite oral care brand, to roll out the schools’ programme to help children develop healthy oral habits from a young age so they can grow with these habits into healthy functioning adults.
Madam Mpereh said tooth decay and related oral issues are the leading cause of absenteeism in schools and that too many children were missing school days due to oral care concerns.
She said: “Our overall ambition is to help 10 million Ghanaian children to develop healthy oral habits by 2023 by reaching them with the brush twice daily campaign.
She said the company is on track with the goal of reaching 10 million to develop healthy oral habits and that 5 million have already been reached, adding that this year’s target is 1.2 million children.
Madam Mpereh urged all Ghanaians to adopt the healthy habit of brushing twice everyday, visiting a dentist once a year and changing your toothbrush once every three months.
She said these simple steps would go a long way to make Ghana a healthy nation, adding that “there is no general health without oral health”.The 2019 World Oral Health Day is an international day to celebrate the benefits of a healthy teeth and to promote worldwide awareness of the issues around oral hygiene. The theme for this year’s celebration is: “Act on Mouth Health”.