ABOUT 193,217 participants recently marked this year’s Colgate National Tooth Brushing Day in a bid to promote good oral health on a national platform.
The initiative saw 364 schools and 256 organizations and communities participating in the national event last Friday.
The event organised in association with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and the Fiji Dental Association saw people acknowledging the importance of tooth brushing in maintaining good oral health.
The main launch took place at Ratu Navula Secondary School in Nadi for the first time with over 1000 students and staff participating in this celebration.
Colgate National Tooth Brushing Day is a day when people of Fiji are invited and encouraged to brush their teeth together as a nation for good oral health.
The initiative leverages off Colgate’s Bright Smiles Bright Futures (BSBF) free schools Oral Health Program objectives which are to:
- develop the Oral Health knowledge and behaviour of children;
- empower them to take control of their own health; and
- provide skills which they can carry through adolescence and adulthood.
The BSBF Oral Health Program has four key messages which include:
- the importance of brushing at least twice a day with fluoride toothpaste;
- flossing daily to remove plaque from hard to reach places;
- regular visits to the dentist;
- limiting the frequency of sweets and sticky foods.
About National Tooth Brushing Day:
In 2008, Colgate worked in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and the Fiji Dental Association to bring about the first ever National Tooth Brushing Day.
The 2004 national Oral Health survey revealed that dental caries in children was a public health challenge, with 88 per cent caries prevalence in six-year-olds. This alarming statistic was one of the reasons the National Tooth Brushing Day event was initiated and it is a basis for creating a more practical awareness on the importance of tooth brushing in the prevention against dental caries and tooth loss. Toothbrushing is also the one single activity that goes a long way to keeping our teeth and gums healthy!
