A group of Pacific Island kiwifruit workers will pass on knowledge of how to keep teeth clean when they return to their communities next month, after visiting an oral health clinic.

A group of EastPack Te Puke workers at Auckland for an Oral Health Clinic. Photos: supplied.

Eleven Recognised Seasonal Employer workers, currently employed at Te Puke's Eastpack post-harvest operator, spent some of their downtime visiting an Auckland clinic last month.

Hosted by Blanche Farmer and her staff and students from Auckland University of Technology's Department of Oral Health, the RSE workers from Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea learned about oral health and some received dental treatment in the process.

The visit is a Fruit of the Pacific's ‘Pacific Smiles' initiative, which equips teams of Pacific RSE workers to teach the message of oral health care to their children and communities when they return home after working in New Zealand.

The workers go home in two groups; some return mid-June to begin the oral health promotions. The rest leave at the end of September, and will also work with the partner programmes.

Oral Health Programme coordinator Kylie DellaBarca Steel says the RSE scheme has been developed as a win-win arrangement, which works for all parties involved.

'It's good for the kiwifruit industry because they have a consistent reliable workforce returning each year, and it's good for the RSE workers because they can earn an income that supports the development of their communities back home.

'For the people of Te Puke, I think the RSE scheme presents a fantastic cultural exchange, where we can celebrate the cultures of our Pacific neighbours and learn from each other.”

The initiative is proving successful, with the Ni Van contingent forming its own oral health team ‘Vanuatu Oral Health Awareness'.

Partnering with Marine Research, World Vision and the Butterfly Trust – the Ni Van team has taught the message of cleaning teeth twice-daily to more than 1500 children in many Vanuatu regions. Children were also equipped with toothbrushes and toothpaste to help keep their teeth clean.

Their programme has also caught the eye of Colgate Pacific, which this year is sponsoring them 10,000 Bright Smile, Bright Future kits to distribute.

For the Ni Van team, the recent clinic visit saw their own oral health care knowledge assessed, and gave opportunity for needed x-rays and restorative treatment to take place.

As adults, they feel obligated to take such a simple, yet vital message home to their families, says Kylie.

The clinic visit has had a similar impact on five Papua New Guinea women, who also come from a nation where the knowledge isn't widely available or practised – and where traditional customs make oral health awareness challenging.

In their culture, betel nut is chewed by many people from morning to night and chewing can start with children as young as age eight.

Betel nut is the leaf of a piperaceae vine, mostly consumed in Asia as a betel quid with or without tobacco, and can be an addictive formulation with adverse health effects.

Betel nut stains often hide evidence of tooth decay, gum disease and early signs of oral cancer.

There is believed to be at least 25,000 recorded deaths every year in Papua New Guinea as a result of oral cancer.

The ‘Pacific Smiles' programme allowed the Ni Van women to have their teeth fully scaled and cleaned, as well as receive restorative treatment – including fillings and extractions – which they wouldn't easily have access to in their home communities.

They also benefitted from eight hours of workshops dedicated to teaching oral health and its impacts on the body's health, including ways to communicate what they learned to their children and communities.

Seeing the workers use the programme to reach their nation has been 'incredibly rewarding” for Kylie, who has seen the Ni Van women develop since meeting them in their first year in the initiative.

This year is her first year working with Papua New Guinea women.

'This group is an absolute testament to women who have a huge heart to do their nation and families proud and make a long lasting positive impact on their communities.”