In a bid to improve oral health among Nigerian children, Unilever Nigeria has launched a campaign to reach 10 million school children by 2025. The initiative, tagged “Talk to a Dentist”, is being championed in collaboration with the Nigerian Dental Association (NDA).
Addressing a press conference to commemorate the 2024 World Oral Health Day, the Marketing Head for Beauty & Well-Being, Unilever Nigeria, the makers of Pepsodent, Oiza Gyang, highlighted the importance of good oral hygiene for children’s health and self-esteem.
She noted that about 3.9 billion people globally suffer from one oral health condition or the other with tooth decay being the most prevalent oral disease adding that children with poor oral health are more likely to suffer self-confidence and self-esteem issues.
According to her, it has been realised that the highest cause of school absenteeism these days is as a result of oral diseases.
Also speaking, the Category Manager, Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria, Eva Ogudu, outlined the campaign’s objectives to achieve zero cavities through consistent twice-daily brushing with fluoride toothpaste and regular dental check-ups.
Ogudu emphasised the initiative’s broader goal of democratising access to dental care, including free dental camps to eradicate oral diseases. She reflected on past successes, noting the significant impact of previous campaigns in reaching millions of children and providing essential dental health services to thousands of Nigerians.
“Pepsodent’s “Talk to a Dentist” campaign was launched three years ago in collaboration with the association to promote oral health education by sensitising Nigerians on the importance of visiting a dentist. In 2022 alone, we were able to reach 1 million children, while in 2023, we reached two million children. Besides, we also provided free dental health checks for 50,000 Nigerians. In addition, we also reached 30 million Nigerians indirectly through the distribution of Pepsodent to various households,” Ogudu said.
Also speaking, Head, Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business, Unilever Nigeria, Godfrey Adejumoh, noted that the ‘Talk to a Dentist’ campaign embarked upon by Pepsodent remains one of the numerous initiatives outlined by Unilever Nigeria to improve people’s health, confidence and well-being. Adejumoh reiterated the company’s commitment to using its business to become a force for good health in society.
NDA President, Dr Tope Adeyemi, disclosed that about 90 per cent of the world’s population is more likely to suffer from oral diseases in their lifetime.
Adeyemi stated that Nigerians must cultivate low-cost preventive practices such as brushing of teeth twice daily with fluoride-containing toothpaste, visitation to the dentist, as well as the adoption of a healthy lifestyle to prevent common oral diseases.
He urged the Federal Government to integrate oral health services into the primary health centres, stating that doing so would reduce the burden of common preventable oral diseases, as well as save costs for dental expenditure.
“Currently, oral care services are mostly accessed as a secondary level of care in the NHIA. The NDA calls for preventive oral care services such as scaling and polishing of teeth, fluoride therapy, simple dental fillings, dentures and simple tooth extraction to be included in primary care of the NHIA,” he added.
