World Oral Health Day Campaigns by Dental Students' Society of Nepal- From 100m to 3800m, From Screen to Streets, From Old to Child.

Dental Students Society, Nepal celebrated World Oral Health Day as a nationwide campaign that involved diverse group of activities which all resonated to make a massive impact throughout the country. The campaign activities were targeted not only to individuals and communities that represented diverse socio-economical and biological background but also to those serving as parents and students of medical and allied health sciences.
Association started social media campaigning almost 1 month prior to oral health day as Happy Mouth Contest and Brush and Boogie Contest which made extraordinary number of social media reach. As students of dental schools in different part of the country participated in the social media campaign, campaign was able to make nationwide impact spreading positive message from this year’s theme and Toothie’s song "A Happy Mouth is a Happy Mind".

Dental Students of Nepal jumped into real fields and concluded the month-long community outreach campaigns focusing on the oral health educational activities, oral disease screening, Topical Fluoride application for children and oral hygiene kit distribution. The community outreach series was named "Oral Health for All" as the target audience was representative population for children, Elderly, women, low socio-economic status and vulnerable population like orphans, street children and children from slum areas. More than 1,000 needy individuals were benefited from the campaign and over 150 vulnerable children benefited with the topical fluoride applications. Education was not only limited to passive sessions, but active learning was executed by live brushing workshop and engaging kids in FDI Activity Sheet. 

Another highlight was Muskaan Digital Campaign which can be considered as one of the innovative concepts within the campaign. As World Health Organization (WHO) suggested, DSSN realized the importance of parent’s education in oral health of children especially the children of age group 3-9 years. Thus, a digital campaign was launched targeting the parents and teachers of children of age group 3-9 years where parents were reached by digital volunteers by school administration and Parents- Teacher Group to conduct virtual oral health workshop through video conferencing tools. More than 450+ parents were benefited from this campaign.

On March 20, in collaboration with Nepal Dental Association, Run for Oral Health event was conducted where dental student and professionals ran with World Oral Health Day themed T-shirts in center of Kathmandu city which was followed by a talk session on how mental health is connected with oral health. A Meditation session was also conducted following the talk session.

Campaign activities were not limited to awareness activities, but an impactful professional event was conducted in collaboration with World Health Organization- Nepal. The event was “Walk the Talk- Oral Health Meet with Leaders” where leaders and delegates from various medical students and youth organization participated and discussed over current global and national oral health status, strategies and policies drafted to tackle oral health challenges and role of students and youth organization on oral health promotion.

The message trying to be conveyed by the students was also amplified by huge numbers of media and press coverage. Thus, we can conclude that this ambitious, student-driven movement showcased how passion, innovation, and partnerships can turn oral health into a national public health conversation. It sent a clear message: Healthy smiles are everyone's right-and everyone's responsibility.