World Oral Health Day – motivating the youngest to value their smile

(Patria) - World Oral Health Day (WOHD) is celebrated every year on March 20, promoting awareness of the importance of oral health and care, and its significance in preserving general health for both children and adults.

The School Hygiene Service of the Institute for Health and Food Safety Zenica (INZ) celebrates this day every year, which is aimed at raising global awareness about the prevention and control of oral diseases, and we focus attention on the entire population, starting from early childhood. For oral health, it is important to create health policies, which play a significant role in the prevention of oral diseases.

In previous years, the School Hygiene Service conducted the "Oral Health" workshop in all preschool institutions in the Zenica-Doboj Canton (ZDK), in cooperation with Curaprox, who, after the workshop on proper tooth brushing, donated toothbrushes to our youngest children in the oldest kindergarten groups.

This year's World Oral Health Day is celebrated worldwide, including in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the aim of motivating the population to value their smile, take care of their teeth, and understand how this can help protect their overall health.

COVID-19 has changed the way of social life, so the celebration of World Oral Health Day can be expressed in various creative ways for children and adults, thus contributing to the global movement of preserving one's own health.

Through World Oral Health Day, we want to encourage change, get moving, improve health on a personal level, and involve all "Partners in Health" as key individuals in personal education and oral health protection, helping them recognize the importance of prevention, and that early detection and treatment of diseases ensure the best therapeutic outcome.

Oral health care begins in early childhood; caring for milk teeth, along with creating good habits in children, is key to oral health throughout life. The School Hygiene Service has been acting preventively in our canton and in all schools and preschool institutions for many years.