MONDAY MARCH 20 IS – “WORLD ORAL HEALTH DAY”
ST. GEORGE'S, GRENADA, MARCH 16, 2017 - GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SERVICE (GIS): - With three days to go before Grenada observes World Oral Health Day 2017, on March 20, Grenadian health authorities are scaling up activities to highlight the benefits of good oral health and hygiene through this year’s “Live Mouth Smart” campaign.
The annual celebration promotes worldwide awareness of the issues around oral health and the importance of oral hygiene throughout life’s stages. However this year the aim is to get everyone to recognise the impact their oral health has on overall physical health and well being in order to help inspire this change, by Living Mouth Smart, the 2017 theme.
Why is WOHD Important?
According to global statistics 90% of the world’s population will suffer from oral diseases in their lifetime and many of them can be avoided with increased governmental, health association and society support and funding for prevention, detection and treatment programmes.
In addition, World Oral Health Day offers the dental and oral health community a platform to take action and help reduce the overall disease burden. For that very reason Grenada’s Health Ministry, through its Dental Department has been holding public discussions providing information, free dental checks and will hold a dental health-fair on Friday, March 17, on the compound of Andall and Associates Supermarket on Melville Street, in St. George.
Friday’s dental health fair which has attracted support from stakeholders like Marketing and National Importing Board, Grenada Food and Nutrition Council, Grenada Diabetes Association, among others; gives the public access to information on nutrition, diabetes and other chronic diseases issues among other things and how they all connect to the mouth which is the gateway to health and wellness.
Additionally starting Monday, March 20th, a visiting dental team from the United States headed by Dr. Royce Holmes will be on island working alongside Grenadian dental care providers for a period of two weeks, offering free dental services to primary school students from Bonair Government, Samaritan Presbyterian and Chantimelle R.C Schools.
In April a dental group from the University of Connecticut headed by Michael T. Goupil Emeritus Professor, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Connecticut School of Dental Medicine and Grenada’s Chief Dental Surgeon Dr. Julie Du Bois together with her team, will conduct dental outreach services from April 10-14 in St. Andrew.
