Unilever explores new ways to encourage better oral health on pepsodent brand

Unilever’s toothpaste brand, Pepsodent launches a new digital behaviour change programme to make daily tooth brushing a fun habit for the whole family.

In his remarked during the product lunching recently held in Lagos to mark the World Oral Day, Severine Vauleon, global Vice President, Oral Care, Unilever, said “We know that building good brushing habits in children sets them up for better oral health in the future, which in turn leads to better overall health outcomes,”

He said “The sustained dental health benefit for adults, from childhood tooth brushing intervention has been shown by the Tayside Study conducted by the UK NHS (2017) and subsequent follow-up of the same, now adult, participants. This landmark intervention programme studied the need to teach children about the importance of brushing day and night and found that those who were taught to brush day and night from a young age had 20% fewer treatments for cavities 20 years later.

“We realised that there was still yet more we could do to build good brushing habits with children from a young age,” Vauleon noted.

According to Osagie Ehanire, minister of State for Health, Federal Ministry of Health, who represented the Minister for Health at the event, “In our country, we are facing serious oral health care concerns and the more people that learn to care for their mouths, the happier and healthier our communities will be.”

He further noted “It’s wonderful to see so many people from all walks of life coming together today to share the message of brushing day and night on World Oral Health Day,”

Guests included schoolchildren, parents, caregivers and Unilever representatives, who all gathered to pledge their commitment to Brush Everyday, Day and Night.

This year, Pepsodent and the FDI are celebrating 10 years of partnership. In the latest phase of this partnership, successful activities have been implemented in local partnerships between Nigerian Dental Association. Pepsodent also partners with the Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria on its oral health school program.

Bode Ijarogbe, president Nigerian Dental Association, said “The theme of this year’s World Oral Health Day is “Live MOUTH SMART”

“We need to empower people to take control of their oral health – throughout life – so they can enjoy a healthy, functional mouth from childhood into old age. Maintaining optimal oral health into old age ensures you live not only a longer life, but also one free from the physical pain and often emotional suffering caused by oral disease,” he said.

This year, for the first time, Pepsodent has introduced a mobile first approach to behaviour change. Little Brush, Big Brush is a 21-day behaviour change programme to help families with children build better tooth brushing habits through fun and play, delivered on people’s mobile phones through Facebook Messenger. Combining strong storytelling and cutting-edge AI technology, Little Brush Big Brush is an animated story, which comprises of 21 episodes featuring animal characters that help children develop good brushing habits for life. Pepsodent hopes that this innovation will allow them to reach even more families through this unique innovation.

Vauleon said “Children are powerful behaviour change advocates in their homes, often driving conversation and action with parents around issues like this. We’re confident that kids will love the stories and characters and this will drive their interest and excitement to brush day and night.”

TIAMIYU ADIO