Through credible, accessible and efficient services, this collaboration is a joint effort to help people avoid dental self-medication, which is proven to pose several dangerous risks.
Distya Tarworo Endri, Head of Marketing Oral Care and Professional Marketing, Unilever Indonesia said, “For more than 90 years, Pepsodent, an oral care brand trusted by millions of Indonesian families, has been committed to maintaining healthy Indonesian smiles. As part of its commitments, Pepsodent makes continuous efforts to provide direct and online oral health consultation services. We believe this is very important since people’s low access and awareness to regularly consult a dentist often leads them to take risky actions, namely self-medication.”
Self-medication is the process of taking medicine without the supervision of medical personnel. This usually starts with people thinking that they recognize symptoms of dental problems and then selecting and using drugs to alleviate their pain. In fact, 84.23% of people practice self-medication[a]. In terms of to oral health, a 2023 Indonesian health survey shows that this behavior is practiced by 25% of the public and is one of the reasons why 92% of people have not seen a dentist in the past year[b].
drg. Ratu Mirah Afifah, GCClinDent, MDSc, Head of Professional Marketing Personal Care, Unilever Indonesia explained, “Self-medicating dental problems is generally triggered by unequal access to oral health services, financial limitations and reluctance to seek direct treatment. Unfortunately, it is easy to obtain drugs - even antibiotics, which are considered an instant solution to cure all health problems, including the most common cases of toothache caused by cavities and gum disease. However, every oral problem requires specific treatment by a dentist.”
“Some of the risks of self-medication for oral health include errors or delays in diagnosis that can worsen oral health conditions, increased antibiotic resistance, and kidney dysfunction, which in advanced stages can be fatal,” continued drg. Mirah.
As a solution, Pepsodent made a breakthrough during the pandemic through its online oral consultation service “Tanya Dokter Gigi by Pepsodent”, which can be accessed via a QR code on Pepsodent Pencegah Gigi Berlubang packaging. This pioneering online service in Indonesia is supported by dentists who are members of the Indonesian Dental Association (PDGI), the Association of Indonesian Dentistry Faculties (AFDOKGI), and the Association of Indonesian Educational Dental and Oral Hospitals (ARSGMPI) throughout the country, and has so far reached 143,756 beneficiaries.
To provide wider benefits, this time, Pepsodent is collaborating with Halodoc as a digital health service ecosystem, presenting consultation and pre-medication services for oral problems that are credible, accessible and efficient.
Timothy Raditya, Product Marketing Lead of Halodoc explained, “Halodoc has a big mission to simplify access to health services in Indonesia. To achieve this significant mission, we actively collaborate with stakeholders who have the same focus, realize a healthier Indonesian society. Halodoc, together with Pepsodent, supports improving oral health services by providing free online consultations with licensed, trusted, and qualified dentists who can be accessed anytime anywhere. This collaboration can provide positive benefits for the public, so that individuals no longer carelessly self-medicate and can instead maintain their oral health before getting sick.”
Distya explained, “The online oral consultation service in this collaboration can be accessed very easily, users only need to scan the QR code printed on all Pepsodent Complete 8, Pepsodent Sensitive Expert, and Pepsodent Kids product series packaging. Users will receive a discount voucher of up to Rp25,000, allowing them to consult for free on the Halodoc app[c].”
This collaboration was welcomed by Ririn Ekawati, a Celebrity Mom who is very concerned about her family's oral health, “I once had an unpleasant experience. When my family and I were traveling out of town, my son suddenly complained of a toothache. Because I was not familiar with the location of the dentist clinics in the city, I was forced to buy my own medicine to discontinue his pain.”
“Honestly, I was nervous afterward because I was worried about unwanted side effects. I'm therefore really grateful for the online consultation service from Pepsodent and Halodoc, besides being easily accessible through a variety of my family's mainstay toothpaste products, now I can consult anytime and anywhere. Moreover, supported by a team of dentists who are certainly experienced, I'm even more excited to try the service!”
“With a target of providing benefits to 200,000 people over the next year, this collaboration will hopefully further improve quality oral health services for the public and help reduce the practice of dental health self-medication,” concluded Distya.
Survei Sosial Ekonomi Nasional 2021
Survei Kesehatan Indonesia 2023
Syarat dan Ketentuan berlaku, kunjungi: https://www.tanyapepsodent.com/pepsodent-halodoc-terms-conditions.html