At the conclusion of the 32nd Ghana Dental Association (GDA) Congress, Pepsodent, Ghana’s renowned toothpaste brand that has been a trusted name in oral care for decades, was given an award for its partnership with the GDA over the years.
It will be recalled that in 2022, Pepsodent stepped up its role in making dental visits a priority as part of its World Oral Health Day (WOHD) contributions.
As such, the “Talk to a Dentist” campaign was launched, encouraging Ghanaians to visit a dentist before dental cavities, gum disease or oral cancers mean that it is too late for medical intervention, resulting in tooth loss or worse.
Mr. George Owusu-Ansah, Managing Director of Unilever Ghana, received the award on behalf of Unilever Ghana.
He expressed his appreciation for the honour, saying, “The entire Unilever family is indeed honoured to receive this award. It fills us with pride that Pepsodent as a brand can partner with the GDA in making dentists more accessible than they have been in the past.
As players in the oral healthcare field, we recognise the unique challenges the GDA faces, especially with our poor dentist-to-patient ratio in Ghana. Still, we are excited that working together, we have found a solution to this problem of access.”
Pepsodent Ghana, in partnership with the GDA, has held dental camps where people have been able to visit dentists for free. Among children and adults, this has been a great help, and made sure that many individuals have been able to visit a dentist for the first time.
With the introduction of the tele-dentistry programme after this year’s WOHD, anyone anywhere with just a phone can have access to a real dental consultation.
Speaking at the congress, Osato Evbuomwan, Category Lead, Oral Care & Skin Care, Unilever Ghana, pointed out the innovations that the Pepsodent brand and the GDA have embarked on to achieve an increase in dental visits: “We have set up a Digi-Dentist platform that provides oral health information to consumers from the comfort of their mobile phones, and we have also developed a WhatsApp chatbot that enables real-time interaction with the digi-dentist.
….Technology is a key enabler of our efforts to drive brand and as a service, but it is not the only ingredient for its success. We also need dentists to power the initiative, so we cannot do it without the support of this association.”
Pepsodent and the GDA continue to push the agenda of breaking down the barriers to affordable dental care.
….While Pepsodent has worked for years on the preventive angle, by venturing into encouraging dental visits, we can be sure that oral healthcare in the country will improve, because “Every smile Matters”.
