„Share a smile” – 8. edition completed
The end of the school year is a time to summarize school results, but also to implement another edition of the educational program „Share a smile„. Thanks to 8. already unveiled the initiative, thousands more schoolchildren from all over Poland have learned the 4 steps for healthy and clean teeth, so that they will be able to take proper care of their smiles during the vacations as well!
„Brush, clean, chew, control” – throughout the school year, nearly 100,000 students in grades I-VI from more than 740 elementary schools participated in unique lessons on proper oral hygiene. The nationwide initiative has been implemented since 2013 by the Polish Red Cross and Mars Poland. From the very beginning, the program has also been supported by substantive partners – the Polish Dental Society and the Polish Society of Pediatric Dentistry. To date, a total of more than 700,000 in. Students. As part of the educational activities, children, in addition to learning about the 4 steps for healthy and clean teeth, learned m.in. what dental caries is, where it comes from and how to prevent it, as well as why it is worth chewing sugar-free gum. The ambassador of the program for the second time was Magdalena Różczka – actress and social activist.
– I am glad that once again I could be involved in such a unique and important initiative. Over the past year, due to the pandemic, the topic of taking care of oral hygiene has often been relegated to the background. Follow-up visits to the dentist were sometimes canceled. The focus of everyone's attention naturally turned to other areas related to health. Fortunately, thanks to the program „Share a Smile” we were able to remind children and their parents that dental health cannot be neglected, because their condition translates into the functioning of the entire body – says Magdalena Różczka, ambassador of the program „Share a smile”.
The 2020/2022 school year was largely a period of distance learning, which posed challenges for caregivers and children alike. Despite the pandemic and the difficulties associated with it, thanks to the commitment of the program coordinators and a multitude of teachers, it was possible to implement another edition of the program. In elementary schools that joined the campaign, teachers conducted a series of educational classes. They were held both at school and in the form of online teaching.
– Last year was not easy, but this did not discourage teachers and coordinators from being fully involved in the program and implementing lessons on oral hygiene. It is these positive reactions to „Share a Smile” that have encouraged us for many years to continue the program in future editions. We see that the topic of caries prevention is all the time relevant and necessary, This year many PCK coordinators and more than 740 schools were involved in the action. It is thanks to them that we can talk about the success of the 8. edition of the program, for which we thank them very much – says Małgorzata Szukała, head of promotion and revenue generation at the office of the Polish Red Cross main board.
The program is fully financed by Mars Poland, which donates 1% each year from the sale of sugar-free Orbit gums between September and October to the program. – Caries in Poland affects more than 80% of school-aged children. At Mars, we want to make people smile, hence our long-standing commitment to the „Share a Smile” program that promotes proper oral hygiene. As a socially responsible company also in a pandemic, we have not stopped implementing our educational activities and have adapted them to the current situation. This year's experience provides us with knowledge for the future, which we are using to plan the next edition, which we are already inviting you to – says Daria Kulinska, director of the. corporate Mars Poland.
