Locally-Made Toothpaste Trial

Another project I have been working for the last 2 weeks is a trial of a toothpaste that could be made in Vanuatu out of coconut oil and finely crushed coral with a few other ingredients. 

The project is an initiative of PCV Health with assistance from a dedicated group of Australian supporters passionate about the poor oral health situation in Vanuatu. Dr Barry Stewart has been leading the charge, coming armed with the first batch to be tried out on 3 classes in 3 age-groups of children at Central School, just 5 minutes walk from PCV Health. 

Here are some samples - mint plus 2 other secret flavours suited to children's taste, along with a booklet for each child to take home. 

The booklets have a calendar inside and a supply of stickers to encourage the children to brush their teeth every day at home, plus they are all brushing once a day at school as a class, with a similar sticker chart for the classroom. The trial will continue for 3 months, to try to get the children in the habit of brushing twice daily, and making sure that the toothpaste is performing well. Extra toothbrushes have been sent home to try to encourage the whole family to brush. Even in a fairly well-to-do school community it is amazing how many families do not have this healthy habit.

In order to check if this is having a good impact, the level of plaque on the children's teeth is being checked at the beginning of the trial, and will be checked again at the end of 3 months to see if there is any improvement. This is where I come in, reprising my role from last year as a survey recorder for Dr Barry.

A disclosing fluid is given to each child to make any plaque on their teeth show up bright pink. This helps the examiners and lets the children see where they are not brushing well. Teaching them how to brush well is a big part of it, as we have seen already that just brushing more often does not always result in less plaque.

Sarafina, Morinda and Bob  from PCV Health have all been conducting a short questionnaire with the children and they will do follow-up visits to the school over the 3 months of the trial.

Dental staff from the Vila Central Hospital have assisted with examinations and recording the data. Dr Jenny (recording) and hygienist Lilyanne (examining) are shown here, also Dr Gaddi and Primilla were helping.

Here is the whole team with class 1B who are very enthusiastic participants.

In late July, we will check the children's teeth again, and if there is a good improvement, it is hoped that production of Vanuatu toothpaste will begin. Of course there will be lots of logistics and issues to be sorted out, but at least this first stage is well underway.