Dental health issues are often overlooked but significantly affect quality of life and productivity. Poor dental hygiene habits, for instance, not brushing teeth regularly, are major contributors to Indonesia’s increasing prevalence of oral and dental diseases.
“The habit of not brushing teeth is the main cause of the rising cases of dental issues,” said Professor Suryono, Dean of the UGM Faculty of Dentistry (FKG UGM), during the opening ceremony of the National Dental Health Month (BKGN) 2024 on Tuesday (Dec. 17) at the FKG UGM campus.
To raise public awareness about the importance of brushing teeth twice a day, FKG UGM, in collaboration with PT Unilever Indonesia, organized a community service program on Dec. 17-19.
The program provided free dental checkups and treatments to 880 patients, including the general public, school students, and children with special needs.
“The program includes a series of dental health activities, such as free checkups and treatments for university students, elementary school students, the public, and children with special needs, as well as education through Teledentistry, utilizing online applications for dental consultations,” he explained.
Professor Suryono expressed his gratitude to Unilever for its 15 years of collaboration with FKG UGM, consistently providing support and excellent facilities for community service initiatives in Yogyakarta.
This year’s BKGN theme is “Dare to Show Your Smile, Support a Stronger Indonesia.” Professor Suryono hopes this event will raise public awareness about maintaining oral health.
“This support enables us to provide free dental and oral health services to the surrounding community, including through regular BKGN activities,” he said.
The Chairperson of BKGN 2024, Silviana Farrah Diba, reported that BKGN’s main activities began with a Training of Trainers (TOT) session to educate elementary school teachers on proper toothbrushing techniques.
This training involved five elementary schools in Yogyakarta: SDIT Asyudit, SLB Negeri 2 Yogyakarta, SD Budi Utama, KBRA Baitur Rahman, and SDIT Bakti Insani.
Following this, a Roadshow School Health Program (SHP) was conducted at each school, engaging 742 students. The program included dental health counseling and distributing toothbrushes and toothpaste.
FKG UGM also initiated the Student Ambassador Program in collaboration with the 1000 Guru Foundation and Pepsodent.
UGM’s Vice Rector for Student Affairs, Community Service, and Alumni, Dr. Arie Sujito, commended FKG UGM for its commitment to community service.
“UGM fully supports initiatives like this, which benefit the community and encourage new collaborations to expand dental health services,” he stated.
Dr. Sujito highlighted that BKGN is an event for dental health checkups and has a significant sociological impact.
As a university prioritizing the tri-dharma of higher education, UGM will continue to support and strengthen community service activities regularly on campus and in other regions to maximize the university’s contributions.
The Head of Professional Marketing Personal Care at Unilever Indonesia, Ratu Mirah Afifah, revealed that the number of dental and oral disease cases remains high, according to data from the 2018 Riskesdas and the latest 2023 health survey.
“Over the past 15 years, BKGN has benefited more than 1.1 million Indonesians, thanks to the contributions of over 25,000 dentists across Indonesia,” she said.
Afifah noted enhancements in the Tanya Tanya Gigi by Pepsodent online dental consultation service launched in 2020 as part of its improvement efforts.
Over the past two years, Unilever has also developed diversity and inclusion initiatives involving patients from special education schools within FKG and RSGM environments.
“We aim to ensure that all community members, including those with special needs, benefit from this program,” she added.
BKGN represents a collaboration between FKG UGM and Unilever through the Pepsodent brand, the Indonesian Dental Association (PDGI), various affiliates, and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. Its mission is to help Indonesians overcome oral and dental health issues, particularly cavities.
Author: Lintang
Editor: Gusti Grehenson
Photographer: Donnie