Systema, the gum health expert from Japan, has launched a campaign to raise public awareness and educate on gum health, and to recognise oral health frontliners.
At a virtual launch event entitled ‘Systema Gumbatte Towards Healthy Gums and Teeth’ on 6th April, 2021, Southern Lion Sdn Bhd senior general manager Carmen Foo highlighted Systema’s social purpose of creating higher awareness of oral health for healthy gum and teeth as the world grappled with unprecedented challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has held us in ‘survival mode’ for almost a year, but now it is time to refocus on important issues such as gum health again. Healthy gums and teeth are vital for better quality of life, so let’s ‘Gumbatte’!
“Systema can help by making more people aware of the signs and symptoms of gum disease that it can often be reversed during early stages by simply brushing teeth and gums twice a day,” she said.
The Systema Gumbatte campaign plays on the Japanese motivational cry of Ganbatte, which means ‘you can do it’, as a rallying call to get Malaysians to take charge of their oral health, even during the pandemic.
The campaign, a joint collaboration between Systema, the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) and the Malaysian Dental Association (MDA), starts from April 1st to April 30th, 2021.
It represents a continuing and increasing collaborative efforts of previous years by the public and private sectors to combat gum disease in Malaysia. The virtual event coincides with the National Oral Health Month 2021.
The campaign aims to educate Malaysians towards healthier life with better oral health by reaching more than 2 million people with fact-based and research-supported oral health information and free dental check-up to gradually reduce gum disease among adults by identifying and preventing oral health problems like gum disease before they become more serious.
“This CSR campaign has measurable goals that can be used to assess its effectiveness across the public and frontliners, providing data on what works so that we can provide more targeted support in future to improve oral health outcomes, such as online gum health assessments and free dental check-ups via MDA member clinics,” Foo added.
She said the Systema Gumbatte campaign launched in 2019 resulted in 50,000 people taking the online gum health check, and over 10,000 visits to participating MDA member clinics for free dental check-ups.
The Malaysian Dental Association honorary general secretary Dr Chong Zhen Feng shared that since the Covid-19 pandemic, dental professionals have noticed the decrease in patients’ attendance as the general public put-off visits to minimise exposure to infection.
“This will inadvertently delay any prompt management and may even lead to worsening of oral diseases,” he said.
Dr. Chong said MDA has been partnered with Systema in continuous campaign on oral health regularly every year as the gum disease in Malaysia is highly prevalent due to the low awareness on the importance of good oral health care.
“Through this campaign, we wish to provide oral health care education across the country with the aim of improving the gum health and the general health of the nation. The number of people we will be able to impact by this initiative is very encouraging,” he said.
He said members of the Malaysian Dental Association will be providing free dental check-up in support of the campaign, and it will recommend that everyone visit their dentist at least twice a year.
The public can do their free online gum check at www.gumhealthcheck.com and if needed, to visit participating Malaysian Dental Association member dental clinics for free dental check.
A study by National Oral Health Survey on Adults (NOHSA) in 2010 found that 9 out 10 Malaysians have gum disease, leaving them vulnerable to other possible complications.
Systema has to date delivered 10,000 trial-size tubes of Systema Advance Anti-Plaque and Systema Sensitive and Gum toothpastes to public dental clinics nationwide for free distribution.
Additionally 9,000 tubes of full-sized tubes of Systema Advance toothpaste have been delivered to public oral health front liners, as appreciation and recognition for their efforts in combatting the pandemic.
Southern Lion Sdn Bhd is a joint venture company between Lion Corporation Japan and Lam Soon (M) Bhd which started operations in April 1987. The company’s portfolio includes several leading brands, such as Top and Bio Zip, oral care brands such as Systema, Kodomo, Fresh & White and Zact, and personal care brands such as Shokubutsu.
