South Africa is a developing country with a proportion of communities having limited access to health care and education. In order for these households to generate income to survive, parents tend to leave their children in the care of grandparents.
The majority of children raised in this situation suffer from bad oral health.
This is due to:
- Inadequate oral health education.
- Poor daily oral health routines.
- Diet (which mostly includes sugary food and an unbalanced diet).
However, this dire situation sparked the Humble Smile Foundation’s idea to educate grandmothers about oral health. Including how they can decrease the instances of this scenario.
More about the Humble Smile Foundation
Established in 2015, the Humble Smile Foundation is supported by a global group of dental and development professionals. Together, they have one universal goal – to passionately promote oral health care as an integral part of children’s well-being wherever they may live.
Moreover, the foundation seeks to prevent suffering caused by oral diseases. They do this by developing and sharing effective and sustainable tools.
Dr Mark Bowes’ involvement with the Humble Smile Foundation
Contributing to better oral health for the less fortunate is one of Dr Mark Bowes’ biggest passions. He became a global ambassador for the foundation to promote their cause and help contribute funds towards their efforts. Enamel Dentistry achieves the latter by donating a portion of the sales generated from its Humble Co. dental range stock to the foundation. Above all, Dr Bowes promotes the foundation’s efforts at dental workshops or events to reach a broader audience.
“Gogo Says” initiative to better oral health education
Recently, mothers and Grandmothers from Soweto, Mpumalanga and Alexandra met up with Humble Smile Foundation volunteers. The two groups discussed topics like why dental care is important to maintain and how they can implement it in their daily lives.
Moreover, the foundation recently launched a campaign called Gogos Give Smiles. As part of this campaign, a partnership between illustrator Tim Mostert, and dentists was formed to create a book called “Gogo Says” . Most importantly the goal was to promote oral health education.
Pages in the book cover aspects relating to oral health like:
- Brushing teeth.
- What type of brush to use.
- How many times a day is needed to brush teeth.
- Food types to avoid for better oral health.
Lastly, during these workshops, volunteers will provide families with Humble Co. bamboo toothbrushes and other related dental products.
