IDA Collaborations

Objective

The Indian Dental Association has partnered with FDI World Dental Federation and Ivoclar Vivadent in launching a novel oral health initiative “Smile Around the World”. The objective the new initiative is to improve the oral health status of school children amongst the disadvantaged sections of the community with limited access to oral healthcare in India. This is being done by creating oral health awareness amongst the rural and underprivileged children, a goal being pursued by IDA over the past few years. The idea is to follow a strategy of prevention and early control of oral diseases through educating children and the community. The programme is slated to be officially launched at the 103rd FDI Annual World Dental Congress in Bangkok this month. The rationale of the programme stems from the fact that a large number of underprivileged children do not have access to information about oral health and hygiene and that good oral hygiene learnt at an early age will help ensure good oral health throughout their life.

Scope

To begin with the programme expects to cover 5000 children from Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane districts in Maharashtra by the end of this year. Schools are important institutions that facilitate provision of preventive oral care programmes. The availability of children in large numbers in schools permits delivery of mass educational programmes to create oral health awareness. Likewise, training teachers and parents in oral healthcare helps improve oral health of the community. Teaching children maintenance of proper oral care and hygiene at a young age is an investment that will pay lifelong dividends. Oral health education in schools is important inasmuch as good physical and mental health is critical to a student’s ability to learn, lead healthy lives and avoid high risk behaviours like tobacco and alcohol habits.

The Focus

School children in the age group of 6 to 8 years will be the target. The focus obviously is on improving oral health of children from among the disadvantaged population, including mentally challenged children, through oral health check-ups and enhancing oral health awareness. Oral health and hygiene education sessions and demonstration and explanation of brushing techniques will go a long way in inculcating among children oral healthcare habits. These oral health education sessions will be supported with audio/ video presentations. The entire emphasis thus is on securing optimal oral health of future generations. To help children protect their teeth and gums, and greatly reduce their risk of getting cavities, dental care habits will be imparted, including the right way of brushing twice daily (in the morning and at night) and use of fluoridated toothpaste. An illustrated booklet on oral health for children with a message for parents is also distributed to children covered under the programme.

Training of Teachers

It’s important to sensitise teachers about the impact of dental ailments on the children’s ability to focus on their studies and their attendant behaviour. Teachers will not be able to understand their wards’ behaviour unless they are aware that the child has a dental problem. Hence, besides focusing on educating children on oral health and hygiene, a teacher training component will impart the necessary knowledge about subjects that facilitate oral health promotion. The teachertraining component is expected to sustain the project in the long run. Teachers will be trained by the dental team to involve children in giving expression to their own creative ideas of ‘best smile’ or ‘healthy smile’ through a drawing contest/art exhibition. This will facilitate the dental team which will conduct oral health education sessions to make use of these drawings Indian Dental Association (IDA) has been taking giant leaps to push beyond conventional boundaries to interact with the people of India and with the dental fraternity at large. In the wake of our expansion, we are now focusing on having our own social media presence that would allow us to stay connected and bring you the most advanced updates in the field of dentistry.

IndianDentalAssociationOnlinSubscribe to our channel at e to engage the children in an interactive educational process and participate in the oral health messages. A guideline for teachers on “Introduction to oral health for 6-year old children at school” is being distributed to teachers to help them understand the basics of teeth and their care. It will also come handy in conducting oral health education sessions in the company of dental professionals.

Commencement of Programme in India

The pre-launch of the programme started in Mumbai at the Marwari Commercial High School and Junior College, Cheera Bazar, in South Mumbai, on August 24 and 25 at which 185 underprivileged children of English and Hindi mediums were covered. The participating dental professionals conducted oral health awareness sessions stressing on the maintenance of oral hygiene, including the importance of brushing twice daily and demonstrating the right brushing techniques. Later they interacted with the children by organizing a “best smile” drawing competition. An illustrative booklet for maintenance of dental health and a dental health kit were distributed to the children besides the guideline for teachers. The managing trustees and teachers were very appreciative of the FDI-Ivoclar- IDA programme, the first of its kind focusing on underprivileged children.

Summing Up

‘Smile around the world’ seeks to positively engage the children by involving them in the process through their own creative work so they both understand and participate in the oral health messages. The teacher-training component will ensure the long-term sustainability of the project. The project is expected to contribute to identifying specific needs and thus benefit policy makers in shaping the oral health policies in the country.