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They worked in pursuit of a better tomorrow
Through their efforts, they contributed to the lives of others
They empowered others, creating new opportunities and hope.
They spent their days for the sake of this purpose,
without any expectation of honor or praise.
They never relinquished their faith that tomorrow could be better.
And they never gave up.
"Turkey's Changemakers" is looking for people who make a difference in others lives
from all across Turkey.
Sabancı Foundation's "Turkey's Changemakers" begins.
Welcome to a new episode of "Turkey's Changemakers"
We are broadcasting from the SEED Conference Center of the Sabancı Museum, Istanbul
and showcasing Changemakers from all across Turkey.
Village by village, city by city, town by town, we are looking for hardworking people dedicated to improve the living conditions of others.
Some of them work for people with disabilities, some in the area of health, education, or economic development.
All of them are different than one another. But together, they form the Turkey's "A Team" of Changemakers.
Today's episode features Prof. Türksel Dülgergil, who is currently teaching at the Kırıkkale University.
What he did sounds very simple;
he expanded the use of an application for children's dental health.
However, this simple application saved 30,000 children from tooth decay in various provinces of Turkey.
Have you heard of the "fluorine gel" application?
In fact, it is recommended by the Ministry of Health in Turkey,
but still not widely in use. Prof. Dülgergil, however, is working on expanding the use of this method.
He is not only working on it; his dedication to this project is already making a difference in the lives of thousands.
You will understand when you watch this episode. He is a true Changemaker.
What are these children doing?
They are not in a physical education class, nor a ceremony rehearsal.
These hundreds of students are waiting for the sign of
Prof. Dülgergil to brush younger children's teeth.
- Does everybody have gel on their brushes? You will repeat the application 3 times.
The kids may get nauseous, don't worry, you can make them spit
the gel out without asking us. Let's start!
- We brushed their teeth.
- I liked it. – How did it taste? - Good
- We brushed their teeth. We were careful.
We made them spit the gel out in case they got nauseous. We also paid attention to hygiene.
- Do you know why you did this? – For our dental health.
- Do you regularly brush your teeth? - Yes
84% of elementary school students in Turkey have at least one decayed tooth
and 18% of them are not in the habit of brushing their teeth. And according to recent research,
only 23% of children who are not in the habit of brushing their teeth
before the age of 6 become adults who brush their teeth regularly.
It goes without saying that this lack of habit reflects negatively to the overall health of the population.
In Turkey, tooth decay ranks first among the most commonly encountered health problems for children between the ages of 6 to 12.
And sadly enough, Turkey ranks very low in its population's health condition among European countries.
In Turkey, people's teeth are not shining as they seem to in commercials.
However, in the province of Kırıkkale, a project is in effect in order to change this ill fate.
Today, you will help children who have only recently started
to attend elementary school.
You will contribute to their dental health.
Today, as their older brothers and sisters, you will apply fluorine gel on their teeth.
Needless to day, there is a true Changemaking story behind this
dental health campaign that expanded to various provinces of Turkey.
Prof. Türksel Dülgergil is currently the Associate Dean
of the Dentistry Faculty at Kırıkkale University.
However, his main working location is not his office
at the university; it is in elementary school classrooms.
- Open your mouth wide. It is still there! Is there a problem?
- No. – You are fine. Come here please, open your mouth wide.
Prof. Türksel Dülgergil started doing field work for his PhD thesis
in 1997, while he was working in the province of Diyarbakır.
The poor dental conditions of children he came across during his field work changed the way he perceived life and his profession.
There are many small strings that tie your gums to your bones together.
Although you don't notice it, you are strengthening those strings also.
The more you strengthen those strings, the more you strengthen your teeth.
Tooth decay is not the only issue. Do you understand?
– Yes. – Is there a problem? – No.
The behaviours and cleanliness
of children you come across also
reflects in their oral and dental health.
There were so many children suffering from tooth decay.
This is not only the case in Diyarbakır; we experienced the same conditions in many other provinces.
After seeing those poor conditions, you feel obliged to make a decision.
You either think "I am not going to be bothered by this at the moment, we will deal with it later",
or you ask yourself "What can I do to help these children?"
Unlike most people, he did not stay indifferent to the situation.
Prof. Dülgergil, started to work on a simple, protective and sustainable.
project that to improve children's dental health. While doing research on the topic,
he came across a method that is widely used in many European countries.
I came across a very interesting fact while doing research on how to prevent tooth decay among children
I found out that tooth decay was very widespread in many European
countries after World War II, especially during 1950s.
I wanted to find out what those countries did to fight tooth decay.
And I read about a method that is widely used in Switzerland since 1959.
They were applying a good-tasting gel that contains high levels of
fluorine to children's teeth by using a toothbrush.
In 2004, Poland also implemented this method. During 1970s and 80s, countries like France and Finland
were also using this method not only to protect children from tooth decay,
but also to help them gain the habit of tootbrushing.
After reading related scholarly articles,we asked ourselves: "Why don't we do this in Turkey?"
Prof. Dülgergil started an extensive research on the fluorine gel application project which is widely implemented in Europe.
The fluorine gel, which is sold in pharmacies all over Turkey,
provides elementary school children a healthy teeth-growing process if applied 4 times a year.
It does not entirely prevent tooth decay, but reduces its chances by
30% and helps children get in the habit of brushing their teeth.
After obtaining required permits from local health and education
authorities, Türksel Dülgergil began to implement the fluorine gel project.
He purchased the first toothbrushes and tubes of gel from a local pharmacy with his own means.
17 USD worth of fluorine gel was sufficient for 500 children.
So he went to an elementary school and began to brush children's teeth one by one.
However, as he realized he cannot brush every child's teeth by himself,
he decided to train elementary school teachers in villages.
After training the teachers on this simple method, he started going school by school to hand out
toothbrushes and tubes of gel, which were purchased by the local health authority.
- Have you ever applied this before? – No, we make them brush their teeth, but we have never used this before
Prof. Dülgergil gave us a seminar on the application of this gel.
We were aware beforehand that we were going to apply it.
- Do you still make children brush their teeth when we are not here?
– Yes of course, you just saw our toothbrushes in a box.
Children are very enthusiastic about it.
They got used to it. They feel the need to brush their teeth after eating something.
They don't even need us to remind them.
- Do they seem to be more aware about dental health? – Yes, they are definitely more aware.
They try not to eat sweets or chocolate in order to prevent tooth decay. Their parents are
more aware about the issue also. We are trying to educate our students with the help of their parents.
- What type of questions do they ask you about dental health?
They ask me about things that cause tooth decay and things they should and should not eat.
They want to know how to prevent tooth decay.
We try to answer all of these questions.
We recommend them not to eat sweets especially after brushing their teeth.
- I did like this, like this, and then like this.
- Do you know why you are doing it? – Yes I do... So that my teeth can stay healthy
this toothbrush is to keep our teeth strong, healthy
we have to keep this very clean! - What happens if we don't? – If we don't, we'll have tooth decay.
- Do you brush your teeth regularly? – Yes. – When do you brush them?
- After eating, after going to bed at night, after waking up in the
morning, after going to school, after washing my hands.
- So you are constantly brushing? – Yes. – You are missing some teeth though, what happened?
- That's because I don't brush my teeth.
– What did the doctor say? – The doctor said I will have new teeth coming out.
- So you're waiting? – Yes.
- I cannot read now, but I will be able to in 2nd grade.
- So you cannot read now but you will be able to next year? Well, do you brush your teeth?
- Yes. Because we want to have healthy teeth. – What would happen if you don't brush your teeth?
- If we don't, then we would have tooth decay and our teeth would fall off.
– Well, do you know what types of food would cause tooth decay?
- Lollipops, candy, sweet stuff in general.
If I start eating naughty food, they will start causing tooth decay.
As time went by, this project initiated by Prof. Türksel Dülgergil
caught the attention of other provinces' health authorities.
Through the Rectorship of Kırıkkale University,
they started to invite Prof. Dülgergil and his students to their respective provinces.
Other provinces started to ask about our project through the Rectorship of Kırıkkale University.
First the Governorship of Kütahya, then Afyon, and shortly after that,
Kahramanmaraş sent formal invitations to the Rectorship.
Provinces of Mersin, Bitlis and Urfa have also recently implemented the project.
We are going to be able to reach 15,000 children in Urfa.
We did not reach rural areas yet, but we were still able to reach
around 75-80 thousand children; maybe even 100 thousand.
There is a very important detail here: Every year, a new generation enters the cycle.
Every year we have a new grade coming out of the cycle,
and a grade coming in.
We are currently active in a total of 20 cities and counties across Turkey.
Today, this project initiated by Prof. Dülgergil expanded to many
provinces such as Mersin, Bitlis, Adıyaman and Ağrı with the help
of their local health authorities.
The fluorine gel application aims to protect 1st Grade children's
newly-grown teeth. It is implemented 4 times a year for 4 years, and when these students reach the
age of graduating from elementary school, they are at least partially protected from tooth decay.
With the support of numerous school principals in Kırıkkale, it is Grade 6
students who apply the fluorine gel to their younger friends' teeth.
Thereby, Grade 6 students actively participate in the application process
while being encouraged to gain the habitude of toothbrushing themselves.
- With a toothbrush, I applied the gel to their lower teeth in order to make them clean.
We did this for 2 minutes. – What are the benefits of this?
- It prevents tooth decay and bleeding gums and helps us have healthier teeth in the future.
Education is not only about teaching a class.
It also consists of teaching our students good behaviours and skills
in order to help them build a better future. We think that's very important.
The habit of brushing teeth is one of those behaviours which we want our children to learn.
Therefore, we have been supporting this project since the beginning.
- How were the students affected by this project? Are they more aware of their dental health now?
- First of all, cases of tooth decay are decreasing. At the same time, our students gained the habit of brushing their teeth.
They became more sensitive about their health. We are witnessing these changes at our school.
Prof. Türksel Dülgergil's project
is receiving a great deal of
support from the Ministry of Health and Kırıkkale University.
As a matter of fact, Kırıkkale University included this project
in its curriculum and its sustainability is under the guarantee of the Rectorship.
The most important aspect of this project is that it is a community-based project.
Our university supports this project as it is also science-based.
A university cannot go beyond being an educational institute unless it
strives to design projects for the benefit of its own city and region.
This project is being supported by many organizations including
the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education.
We are witnessing many benefits from the application of fluorine gel.
At least 3500 elementary school students are protected from tooth decay.
Our Health Minister showed a great deal of attention to our
project and invited me to his office last February.
We talked for approximately an hour. He said: "This is a very nice,
sustainable project and it makes great sense that you are including the families in the process also.
But what is the percentage of prevention that this method will provide?"
All scientific research shows that the prevention percentage is around 30-32%.
However, our project here reached 60%. This is very normal as
we introduced fluorine to a population who never used it before.
Therefore, we obtained a higher percentage of prevention.
I said: "We will provide 40% prevention".
He replied: "Dear Teacher, let alone 40%, 30%, 20%, if you can provide
5% for Grade 1 and 2 students,
you will help me save 1.1 - 1.6 million USD".
This is how the Ministry approaches this topic. They are very sensitive about it.
Rather than "why are you doing this?"
the Ministry's approach was more along the lines of "how can we expand this project?".
We have to adopt a central education system after this point.
Every county, if not every city will select 2 or 3 doctors
to attend a 10-day workshop in Kırıkkale, where they will be
trained on the application of this method.
We have to educate our teachers,
high school students, and even Nursing School students.
Given the fact that students of Nursing School will be the nurses of tomorrow,
we can create a multiplier effect and achieve so many great things.
I believe that our problems can be solved through education.
Prof. Türksel Dülgergil witnessed many dental health issues during
his field work and decided not to stay indifferent to them.
He started working with his own means and initiated a project.
He dedicated many hours working so that children can smile healthily.
He ignored everyone who objected him and who thought this project was not achievable
and made a difference in the smiles of thousands of children.
Prof. Dülgergil was this week's Changemaker.
It is through his contributions that
30,000 children can now smile healthily
You can also participate in this program as a Changemaker
if you think you made a difference in other people's lives;
just like Prof. Dülgergil who touched the lives of 30,000 children.
Now we are going to take a short break and afterwards,
you can find out how you can participate in our program.
Dear viewers, we have to come the end of this week's Turkey's Changemakers program.
This week's Changemaker was Prof.
Türksel Dülgergil, who put a smile on thousands of children's faces.
You can also participate in this program.
You don't necessarily have to be an academician.
We are seeking dedicated people
all across Turkey.
If you would like to participate,
please go to our website and fill out the form at
www.farkyaratanlar.org
or you can call (+90-212-249-23-14) and we can tell you what to do.
We are broadcasting from the SEED Conference Center of the Sabancı
Museum and next week, we will showcase another Changemaker on CNN Turk.
Until then, this is Cüneyt Özdemir wishing you a good evening. See you next week.
They worked in pursuit of a better tomorrow
Through their efforts, they contributed to the lives of others
They empowered others, creating new opportunities and hope.
They spent their days for the sake of this purpose,
without any expectation of honor or praise.
They never relinquished their faith that tomorrow could be better
And they never gave up.
"Turkey's Changemakers" is looking for people who make a difference in others lives
from all across Turkey.
Sabancı Foundation's "Turkey's Changemakers" begins.