The Seventh-day Adventist Church recently partnered with various government agencies to hold a pioneering event named the Oral Health Caravan, a dental mission that promoted dental health and hygiene among delegates to a congress in the southern Philippines. The event took place at Florence Kern Auditorium in Mountain View College, in Valencia, Bukidnon, Philippines, during the recent 2024 division-wide congress of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division.
Several government agencies joined forces to support the Adventist Church’s initiative to promote dental health care at the congress, which attracted thousands of attendees. The office of Senator Imee Marcos, the Department of Health, the Philippine Dental Association of Bukidnon, the City Health Office of Valencia, and the Bukidnon Provincial Health Office participated in the campaign. By addressing the dental health needs of the congress delegates, the church demonstrated its commitment to enhancing the health and well-being of its members.
Attendees received free dental health services, such as free consultation and free oral cleaning.
Beneficiaries of the campaign, led by the Adventist Church in collaboration with local government units, eagerly awaited the distribution of free dental kits. In total, more than 1,700 people received an oral health family package consisting of three adult toothbrushes, three children’s toothbrushes, one foam-style fluoride toothpaste for children, one tube of fluoride toothpaste for adults, and two germicidal soaps.
An oral health education class also took place, featuring a demonstration of proper brushing and flossing techniques and the effects of diet on oral health. “This initiative aims to raise awareness about maintaining healthy oral hygiene,” event organizers said.
Organizers also explained that there is a common misconception that dental missions focus solely on tooth extraction, organizers said. However, many dental outreach programs lack adequate instruments and proper sterilization, posing significant risks for infections. To address these concerns, the Philippines Department of Health has introduced a new nationwide oral health care goal: ensuring individuals have twenty healthy teeth by the age of 70.
“We are trying to implement more education and consultation so that they will take care of their teeth by themselves and know how to do it themselves,” said Kris Edward Sta Ana, the Oral Health Program coordinator of Region Ten in South Philippines.
“I feel blessed to be one of the recipients of this oral health kit,” Meraluna Tubo, one of the attendees, said. “It is a very rare event for us to receive this for free.”
This story is based on the version posted on the Southern Asia-Pacific Division news site.