Press Invitation

HKU Faculty of Dentistry to hold World Oral Health Day event for public

15 Mar 2013

To mark World Oral Health Day on Wednesday, 20 March 2013, the Faculty of Dentistry at The University of Hong Kong is organising an “Oral Health Info Desk” for the general public at the entrance of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital.

The “Oral Health Info Desk” will provide the public with oral health leaflets, brushing and flossing demonstrations and tips, quizzes to check oral health knowledge and teeth-cleaning technique, an opportunity to interact with Faculty dental students, and prizes and souvenirs (while stocks last).

Taking part in the all-day event will be the Faculty’s Knowledge Exchange Unit, representatives of the Dental Public Health Committee of the student Dental Society, and members of the Faculty’s Student Knowledge Exchange Team for Baby Oral Health.

The details of the “Oral Health Info Desk” are as follows:

Venue: Main lobby of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital
Address: 34 Hospital Road, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
Times: 9:00 am to 6:00 pm
(including special segment from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm, run by the Faculty’s Student Knowledge Exchange Team for Baby Oral Health — for parents and carers of babies and young children)
Languages: Cantonese, Putonghua, and English
Queries: Faculty of Dentistry Knowledge Exchange Unit,
E-mail: dentke@hku.hk; Tel: 2859 0455

“Tooth decay is still one of the world’s most common but totally preventable health conditions, and the World Health Organization recognises it as a pandemic infectious disease,” says Professor Lakshman Samaranayake, HKU Dean of Dentistry and the Director of the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. “We hope our Faculty’s ‘Oral Health Info Desk’ will offer useful knowledge and practical tips for the public, and that it will become an annual event, every 20th of March, to mark World Oral Health Day.”

World Oral Health Day is promoted each year by the FDI World Dental Federation, and this year’s theme is “Healthy Teeth for a Healthy Life”. The three key messages of the campaign are (1) Healthy eating, (2) Effective home oral care, and (3) Regular dental visits. This year, events are being held worldwide to raise awareness of maintaining oral health throughout life, and its relation to quality of life and healthy living. According to the campaign website (www.fdiworlddental.org), the overall aim of World Oral Health Day is to “encourage individuals, families, communities, and governments to take action to reduce the global burden of oral disease”.

For more information about the HKU Faculty of Dentistry, please visit https://facdent.hku.hk; Facebook page: www.facebook.com/facdent

Media contact:
Ms Sau-wan Cheng, Knowledge Exchange Officer, HKU Faculty of Dentistry; Tel: 2859 0410; E-mail: dentke@hku.hk