The main objective of dental and oral health counseling is to increase knowledge, awareness, and change children's behavior towards healthy living habits to achieve an optimal level of dental health. This includes the prevention of caries, gum disease, and improving skills in correct toothbrushing.
In detail, the counseling objectives are divided into:
- Short Term: Bringing changes in children's awareness and knowledge about dental health.
- Medium Term: Improving understanding, attitudes, and skills (such as correct toothbrushing techniques) to shift behavior in a healthy direction.
- Long Term: Enabling children to consistently implement healthy behaviors (maintaining dental/oral health) in their daily lives.
Expected benefits from the program's objectives include:
- Disease Prevention: Preventing tooth decay (caries) and gum disease.
- Body Health: Reducing the risk of other diseases, considering that oral health is linked to infections in other body organs.
- Stunting Prevention: Ensuring digestion runs smoothly for maximum nutrient absorption.
- Quality of Life: Avoiding toothaches that can interfere with daily activities.
The activity began with a dental and oral health counseling session, a quiz, practice of correct toothbrushing techniques, and distribution of goody bags containing dental health and body hygiene kits (toothbrush, toothpaste, body soap, shampoo).