Members of the GDA at the congress
Dr. Edward Ohene-Marfo, a dentist at SDA Hospital in Gbawe, has called for the involvement of all stakeholders in educating the public on good oral health.
He gave the advice at the general annual conference of the Ghana Dental Association (GDA) held recently in Accra, sponsored by Pepsodent, Ghana’s leading oral care brand.
Dr. Ohene-Marfo said dentists, over the years, had focused on the pain of the child and the bad breathe caused by the cavities created, leaving the focus on the child’s education.
He based his advice on a global study that looked at how poor oral health affected children’s self-esteem and performance at school.
The research findings indicated that children with poor oral health did not just suffer bad breath, cavities and pain but also hidden damage, as it was linked to lower self-esteem affecting a child’s overall potential during education and beyond.
Dr. Ohene-Marfo disclosed that the research results served as an eye opener and encouraged members of the GDA to rethink the approach to helping young people to have healthy oral health.
“The most simple and effective way to prevent dental caries is to brush ? brush with Pepsodent in the morning and in the evening, the last thing before going to bed,” he said.
The dentist mentioned that when individuals do this very well and visit their dentists at least twice in a year, many people would be free from getting cavities because “whatever food particles that will remain in your mouth for bacterial to work is being cleaned.”
Dr. Ama Amuasi, a member of GDA and dentist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in an interview called on corporate institutions to help build dentistry clinics in every district to provide access to people to visit dentists.