Some pupils from the Ministry of Health Basic School participating in the mass brushing exercise
Unilever Ghana has launched a campaign dubbed the ‘Pepsodent Brush Twice’ campaign aimed at improving the health and well-being of one billion people worldwide by the year 2020.
The campaign which was launched at the commemoration of the2018 World Oral Health Day at the Black Star Square under the theme: ‘Say Ahh: Think Mouth, Think Health’ conveyed pupils from some basic schools within the region.
The pupils engaged in a mass brushing of teeth to demonstrate how to brush their teeth.
While speaking at the event, Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, Yeo Ziobeieton, stated that tooth decay is still the world’s most widespread disease affecting at least six in 10 children and almost every adult.
He added that that plaque, decayed teeth, missing tooth, stained teeth and bad breathe are chronic and widespread in Ghana, affecting nine in 10 children and 10 in 10 adults.
Mr Ziobeieton pointed out that it is Unilever Ghana’s ambition to teach 10 million Ghanaian children to brush twice daily by 2020 while aiming at touching one billion people globally through the ‘Brush Twice’ campaign.
“At Unilever, we know after intensive research with the Dental Association of Ghana that a simple act of brushing two times a day with a fluoride tooth paste reduces tooth cavities by 50 percent,” Mr Ziobeieton added.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to pay close attention to their oral health and to remember that oral health problems can be solved if they embrace the simple act of brushing twice a day; day and night.
In a speech read on his behalf, Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu highlighted that his ministry was collaborating with the University of Ghana Dental School and the Kintampo College of Health to train more dentists in an attempt to improve the dentist to population ratio of 1:150,000.
He said the ministry through the office of the chief dental officer of the GHS had adopted approaches for preventing oral health diseases, adding that community-based interventions and school-based placement of fissure sealants were being implemented to prevent oral health conditions such as dental caries.
Mr Agyeman-Manu indicated that regular and appropriate brushing of teeth, flossing and regular dental check-ups are preventive measures that individuals could take to save themselves from the discomfort of oral health diseases.
He, therefore, urged Ghanaians to join the crusade to fight tooth decay and other oral health diseases.
By Abigail Owiredu-Boateng