Guide to Gum Health Day, Part 3: Moldova to United Kingdom

Morocco: The Moroccan Society of Periodontology and Implantology held a webinar on 15 May, in which the Gum Health Day message of “Say NO to bleeding gums” was prominently displayed as part of a presentation by Prof Mohammed Himmiche on “periodontal health, key to general health.” The society also produced its own short video for Gum Health Day, which was distributed on its Facebook page, along with several EFP-provided videos.

Netherlands: The Dutch Society for Periodontology (NVvP) had planned as extensive campaign for Gum Health Day in the Netherlands, with public events and a media and social-media campaign.

But the society felt that “the theme of this campaign was not suitable in this time of the coronavirus.”

The NVvP traditionally celebrates Gum Health Day by inviting patients into periodontal practices for free gum check-ups and the provision of information and oral-health products. With dental offices across the country forced to close for some weeks because of Covid-19, the society said that it “did not want to charge the practices with more work in the context of Gum Health Day.”

While it cancelled all its plans around Gum Health Day, the society nonetheless distributed the EFP-produced material (videos and graphics) via its social-media pages on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Norway: The Norwegian Society of Periodontology provided information about Gum Health Day on its website and distributed EFP-produced videos and graphics, with the latter translated into Norwegian.

Ukraine: The centrepiece of the actions organised by the Ukrainian Society of Periodontists for Gum Health Day 2020 was a webinar focusing on the new working conditions which periodontists face as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

On 12 May, society president Galyna Biloklytska gave a free webinar entitled “Protocol of examination and treatment of patients with periodontal disease. Possible risks of work for a dentist in modern conditions.” More than 600 dentists registered to participate in the webinar, which presented a detailed protocol for examining a patient with periodontal diseases with an emphasis on the new working conditions caused by the pandemic.

The presence of certain risks for the dentist when working in a COVID-19 pandemic was shown together with steps to help in their prevention with the use of personal protective equipment.

The webinar also presented an integrated approach to the treatment of periodontal diseases involving interdisciplinary co-operation between different specialisations. The need to analyse comorbidities in patients of different ages and the possibilities presented by genetic research to identify risk groups at a “pre-disease” stage and thereby prevent pathological processes in periodontal tissues were discussed.

In the run-up to Gum Health Day 2020, on April 21, the Ukrainian perio society held another webinar, in which its secretary general and EFP delegate Yulia Chumakova discussed the prevention of periodontal diseases in children and adults.

The society also used its Facebook page to organised a quiz dedicated to Gum Health Day and a contest for the best photograph or video on the importance of oral care at home during quarantine. A video clip featuring the Gum Health Day 2020 slogan of “Say NO to bleeding gums” was also recorded and published via social media.

United Kingdom: The British Society of Periodontology and Implant Dentistry  (BSP) produced several of its own videos for Gum Health Day 2020 as well as sharing those from the EFP toolkit on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The society’s undergraduate representatives were particularly active, making a video and creating slides about the awareness day to share via social media.

Linking Gum Health Day to Covid-19 confinement, the BSP ran a “lockdown challenge”, inviting people to send in images and videos to show how to look after your teeth at home. “We received a fantastic response and re-shared posters, images, slides, videos, embroidery, painting etc. – all available to view on our social media channels,” said BSP executive general manager Paula Dunn.

The society had planned to hold about 20 events to promote Gum Health Day to the public and had produced banners and leaflets. The plans involved every dental school in the UK, supported both by the society’s undergraduate representatives and by a commercial partner, GSK. But, as a result of Covid-19, all these events have been postponed.

The BSP praised the “excellent” EFP resources and said that it had appreciated suggestions about how to promote the event despite the lockdown and that it was “extremely pleased with the engagement we had with dental professionals.”