Two Live.Learn.Laugh. projects are underway in Greece: one with the Hellenic Dental Association and another with the Stomatological Society of Greece. The country is able to benefit significantly from this two-pronged approach as you’ll read in the paragraphs that follow.

The FDI and Unilever collaborate with the Hellenic Dental Association to assess and prevent early caries amongst children aged 2-5 years. The project, launched in 2007, targeted 6,400 pre-school children in the Attica region. Part of the programme is a study to analyse the prevalence of dental caries and the presence of plaque and bacteria amongst this group. So far, findings have shown that 37% of the group have a prevalence of caries and a third of teeth surfaces are covered with plaque. Over the next two years, this group of children will receive oral health education on twice daily brushing and learn further about the importance of using fluoridated toothpaste. Results from this study will be published in 2010.

The second project in Greece is the Summer Camp Oral Hygiene Programme, which is now in its third year. The aim is to promote oral hygiene to children aged 6-12 years through dental examinations. The project is delivered by volunteer dentists, members of the Stomatological Society of Greece and hygienists. A number of camps were run in Athens and Argolida during the school summer holidays. The camps are very practical and involve the use of Unilever’s fully equipped mobile health unit for the oral examinations. During their time at the camps, children learn about effective brushing and complete a questionnaire on oral hygiene so that the results can be analysed over time.

Overall over 1,700 children received oral examinations during the summer of 2006 and 2007. All were able to benefit from in-depth advice given about the importance of oral hygiene. The project is continuing in 2008 with further summer camps planned.

Oral diseases have the highest incidence among health complaints in Indonesia. Children’s oral health problems are also linked to poor oral hygiene. Around 62% do not clean their teeth after eating or before going to bed. 17% of children do not brush their teeth at all.

The Indonesian Live.Learn.Laugh. project works with schools to help train parents, teachers and other key educational personnel on the importance of good oral health and oral disease prevention. This knowledge is then shared further and communicated to the wider school community. The project has initially focused on the following:

• 32 schools and 320 trainees in the regions of Bogor, Krawang and Semarang;
• 2000 children from Java;
• 23 health community centres in Posyandu.

The project team works closely with the Indonesia Dental Association, local government, community health centres and the school system to coordinate all aspects of the implementation. The programme is progressing well and in the areas of Bogor, Semarang and Krawang, there is significant progress in the outcome of the training. In Bogor, over 75% of the targeted trainees have been reached since training began in January 2007. Similarly, in Krawang, all the trainees have been targeted since training started in January 2008. Some of the principle aspects of the training are helping communities to prevent oral health problems by promoting the use of fluoridated toothpaste.

Building on these strong foundations, the team will continue to evaluate the programme regularly and will work with the Ministry of Health and community health centres to replicate this in other regions of Indonesia. The team is confident that its training scheme will become national policy. The project is undoubtedly sustainable with trainers being able to educate further trainees, which in turn creates a catalyst effect.

In April, at a very well attended press conference, Unilever and the FDI announced a new collaboration with the Turkish Dental Association to help improve oral health in Turkey. The Oral Health Turkey Research Project will run for three years and will identify the extent of oral health problems amongst the population through an extensive research programme. Over 7,000 people will be taking part in the programme. The prevalence of dental caries and periodontal disease will be analysed amongst the research participants. A detailed look at tooth brushing techniques, accessibility to dentists and lifestyle will also be undertaken.

Zeynep Yal?m Uzun, Vice President of Unilever Home and Personal Care in Turkey, said: “We’re very excited about working with our partners, the Turkish Dental Association on this project. Both our organisations are committed to making a sustainable difference in communities across Turkey. By undertaking this pioneering research into the root-cause of oral health problems, we can work to implement effective preventative measures to improve people’s wellbeing.”

Dr Burton Conrod, President of the FDI, commented: “For the FDI, the Partnership with Unilever is of great strategic importance to achieve our mission of improving oral health. As such, we are delighted to see the Unilever and FDI Partnership network grow further and we welcome the Turkish Dental Association to this wonderful initiative.”

Dr Celal Korkut Y?ld?r?m, President of the Turkish Dental Association also attended the launch. He was joined by Professor Dr. Inci Oktay of Yeditepe University who is leading the research project in Turkey. He commented: “With the support and investment provided by Unilever through Signal and the FDI, we can help even more Turkish people understand the importance of oral care and prevent oral health problems in later life.”

It has been a busy few months, with a number of regional workshops taking place. Regional workshops are organised to enable project leaders in participating countries, as well as FDI and Unilever representatives, to share experiences and explore new ideas for the promotion of oral health.

In early March, the Africa and Middle East project teams met in Dubai, UAE, for their regional workshop. The event was an opportunity to share how far the Partnership has come since the first meeting, which took place in Dubai in March 2006 at the very beginning of the Partnership.

Over 27 FDI, Unilever and National Dental Association representatives from 11 participating countries joined the workshop and focused mainly on evaluating and reporting back on the projects in their region. Dr Burton Conrod, President of the FDI, also attended and congratulated all those involved for their hard work and gave his support calling the Partnership “one of the most exciting Partnership projects in which the FDI has been involved.”

In mid-March, European project leaders and representatives from the National Dental Associations met in Zagreb, Croatia, to review their programme. 32 participants from 9 European countries attended and provided updates on their project achievements. The workshop also focused on evaluation and monitoring of projects to date so that project success and improved oral health can be measured over time.

In the next edition of this Newsletter, we will update you on the Asia workshop, which took place during the month of May in Bangkok, Thailand.

Prof Wim Van Palenstein Helderman

Prof Martin H Hobdell

Prof Denis Bourgeois

Dr Gary S. Leff

For feedback, suggestions and further information about the Partnership, please email Djerdana (Gina) Ivosevic, FDI Development & Public Health, divosevic@fdiworldental.org