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By Zika Bobby
In commemoration of the 2025 World Oral Health Day, Pepsodent, a toothpaste brand, in collaboration with the Nigeria Dental Association, has launched its dental health campaign.
Themed, “Talk to A Dentist,” the campaign aims to reach three million Nigerians this year, surpassing the 2024 reach of 2.4 million.
Speaking at a press conference to herald the commemoration of the 2025 World Oral Health Day, Brand Manager, Pepsodent, Mary Akindola, stressed the need to instil good oral hygiene habits among children by ensuring that they brush day and night for at least two minutes.
She noted that part of the brand’s mission was to drive behavioural change among Nigerians by ensuring that brushing twice daily becomes a universal habit.
Akindola described good oral health as a fundamental human right for everyone, regardless of socioeconomic status or location.
She revealed that Pepsodent and Nigerian Dental Association have scheduled dental camp activations across 20 states in Nigeria and the FCT, explaining that the activations, which would afford people from various communities to participate in oral hygiene education, dental screenings and dental treatment, will take place in five locations in South-West, eight locations in the East and seven in the North. The list of identified states for the activations, include Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Enugu, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Abia, Anambra, Cross River, Kano, Katsina, Kaduna, Borno, Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger and FCT Abuja.
“In addition to the dental camps, Pepsodent will reach 30,000 pupils with oral health education and oral screening across 50 schools in Lagos, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Abuja, in celebration of the World Oral Health Day,” she said.
Personal Care, Research & Development Head of Africa, Unilever, Uchenna Nwakanma, said Unilever, through Pepsodent, remains absolutely committed to boosting oral health awareness and increasing access to dental care globally, as demonstrated by the various programmes and partnership embarked upon by the company, adding that the goal is to eradicate oral disease for everyone.
According to Nwakanma, the series of activities undertaken by the brand to commemorate World Oral Health Day, have reached 640,433 Nigerians in five years.
Since inception, the Pepsodent schools programme initiatives have reached 9.1 million pupils in Nigeria. With the plan to reach 2.7 million pupils in 2025, the programme is projected to reach 11.8 million Nigerians by the end of 2025, surpassing the projection of reaching 10 million pupils by 2025.
He noted that prevention remains the most potent and effective strategy in the fight against oral disease, adding that awareness among children was crucial in setting them up for a life free of preventable oral health conditions.
In his remarks, President of the Nigerian Dental Association, Dr. Elias Emedom, commended Unilever Nigeria Plc for its continuous partnership in promoting oral hygiene in the country.
Emedom further highlighted the connection between oral health and mental well-being, stressing that limited access to oral healthcare and poor awareness were contributory factors to the rising burden of oral diseases in Nigeria.
He reaffirmed the association’s commitment to collaborating with government agencies and healthcare providers to promote oral health and improve overall well-being.
