Dentists ask help to improve Pinoy kids' oral health in New Zealand

A group of Filipino dental health advocates in New Zealand urged the Filipino community to help improve the dental health of Filipino children on the island country.

Doctor Ellen Fei and Reina Arias are once again promoting "Healthy Teeth, Happy Kid," a program that aims to promote "good oral hygiene, healthy snacking, frequent water intake and regular dental visit of the Filipinos in the Canterbury Region."

Arias said this was a necessary measure as they, over the course of their service and since the surge of Filipino migrants in 2011, saw that Filipino children have "the worst dental conditions as compared to other migrant children."

"In other words, No. 1 sa tooth decay ang mga kabataang Pinoy sa NZ.  Gayunpaman, naniniwala kami na maaari pa natin itong mabago," she said.

Because all of their services are voluntary, the program urged volunteers to help the program flourish nearly three years after it was kicked off.

Oral hygiene in the Philippines itself remains a problem, with the Department of Health stating that 92.4% of Filipinos have tooth decay (dental caries) and 78% have gum diseases (periodontal diseases) (DOH, NMEDS 1998).

Healthy Teeth, Happy Kid was commended by the Department of Foreign Affairs in 2015 for its efforts to promote dental health among Filipino migrant children.

The program was created through a financial grant by US Wrigley Company Foundation in partnership with New Zealand Dental Association, with additional support from Ministry of Health of New Zealand, Colgate, NZ BYTE Trust, and others.

The 20-year-old Oral Health Survey of New Zealand is not segregated by race, but accounts for the Maori population. —Rie Takumi/LBG, GMA News