Dental Health Week of Activities underway

(ZIZ News)— In an attempt to save the children of our nation from years of cavities, the Dental Department in the Ministry of Health is hosting a Dental Health Week under the theme “Gums Plus Care Equals A Smile; Everyone Smiles In A Different Language”.

The week of activities began on Sunday with a church service at the Calvary Baptist Church in Sandy Point and continued on Monday with a media presentation to highlight some of the upcoming activities.

Chief Dental Officer in the Ministry of Health, Randy Liburd spoke of the importance of the vendors education drive that will take place on Tuesday and Thursday, which targets the vendors who often sell to children.

“We want to encourage them to sell a package where they can actually add a bottle of water to the snack so that the children can drink their water to dilute and wash off all the sweets of their teeth. We also want to ask them to substitute 2 or 3 times a week to occupy half the tray with healthy snacks like fruit bowls and dried fruits which will eliminate the high instance of dental care that we see among the school children,” he said.

Liburd also mentioned an inaugural dental quiz competition which is the highlight of the Dental Health Week.

“This is a competition designed for all the primary schools both public and private. To date we have 16 schools participating and it is going to be for grade 4 students. Two students will represent each school. We want to increase the dental knowledge among the school children because even though we tell them a lot about brushing and flossing they still have cavities, so in actually knowing how things work they will have a better idea as to how to care their teeth,” he explained.

The Dental Health Week takes place from October 9th to 14th.