Haleon: Putting their money where your mouth is

In this year’s series of partner interviews for the EFP newsletter, we are looking at how leadership in dentistry is going to play a vital and pivotal role in the years to come and how partners are ensuring that they are at the forefront of developing leadership that works.

In this interview we talk to Heather Pelier, Global Expert Lead Oral Health at Haleon.

For Heather Pelier the EFP EuroPerio 11 meeting in Vienna was a triumph, “There were over 10,000 people that attended and I was one of those. I remember there was one morning we were coming out of the exhibition hall and going up to a meeting room and you know you felt a little bit like a salmon going upstream because the flow of people coming in. Many of those, including dental students, came to the Haleon booth and to learn and discuss science with us", says Heather. 

“You realise that in the dental school curriculum, they obviously have a lot to get through. They've got to get through all the functional aspects and how they do their dentistry and intervene with patients plus all the modern administration and legal sides of their world today.” Haleon prides itself on helping dental students learn, teaching them about the emerging science for the importance of oral health generally and how products can assist dental healthcare professionals. Haleon also organised mini lectures, had games to teach people about formulations and sustainability at the booth, and sponsored symposiums with educational and scientific content with high profile speakers such as Iain Chappell and Nicola West from the EFP.

Beyond EuroPerio, what is Haleon doing to foster leadership in dentistry? “We do both global webinars and generally all our local markets will have a webinar programme because we know that that's an extremely key tool for people to stay ahead of what's happening in their profession.”

Heather is also proud of the outreach that Haleon does with other organisations. One of them is the International Federation of Dental Hygienists, or IFDH. “We partner with them, creating a series of white papers for the dental hygienist profession which will cover topics like behaviour change or ageing and oral care or oral health during pregnancy. She goes on: “These have been extremely successful so we're signing up for some more to be done going forward in 2026."

Haleon also works with organisations such as the World Dental Federation (FDI) and the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP).  “We partner with them, because Haleon has a portfolio that has OTC (over the counter) pharmacy products as well.” It is a simple solution that works, as she explains. “We'll make small infographics out of it, short videos and small documents that can be given to the pharmacist”. This helps pharmacists provide better oral health advice to patients, on such things as toothache, bleeding gums, or an ulcer.  56% of UK people go to a pharmacist first with oral health problems and it is probably similar in other countries.

What about the general public? Does Haleon educate them too? “We take part in World Oral Health Day, which is on the 20th of March, and that is very much about education to the general public. We do an outstanding public education programme in India, in Africa as well. We'll offer dental check-ups during the day or during the month and people will go to certain events. So that we're available and they can see a dentist and the dentist can say you're OK or you need to go into a clinic and see somebody.” 

She explains: “The India team have been very good about driving it in the consumer market. Getting dental professionals from the Indian Dental Association to speak on the radio so they can hear it from the master's voice.” For Heather, it comes down to economics, and the cost of NOT teaching good oral healthcare and prevention.  Haleon has put its money literally where your mouth is! It has worked with the EFP and Economist Impact to provide economic data and models on oral health.

“Modelling the cost of perio and caries and showing that prevention is key” explains Pelier, adding: “Basically we are saying if you don’t look after your teeth and do the right thing brushing twice daily, then this is the cost”. The numbers are huge with an estimated cost of $34.7 billion dollars per year in the 40 countries studied, and an estimated 3.1 billion lost work hours. The study also concluded that amongst the lowest income group, proper oral healthcare could reduce the lifetime cost of dental care by over $12 thousand. Two other astounding facts from the study are that in Brazil dentists are extracting twice as many teeth as they are restoring and that globally there are almost 3.7 billion cases of caries and severe periodontitis. That is over a billion cases more than the five most common non communicable diseases (mental disorders, cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and chronic respiratory disease) combined!

These facts were presented in Brussels to the European Parliament in early 2024. The WHO has also been quoting the findings in some of the work that it has been doing to highlight the significance of the research and its impact on global health policies. Heather adds: “We've also recently worked with the Economist Impact on the Health Inclusivity Index, which was really to help understand self-care and how patients look after themselves and what we should be doing, why we need to help drive education.”

This is important because of the growing links between oral health and systemic health, such as heart disease, diabetes, strokes etc. Heather adds: “There is a big meeting in September this year with the UN talking about non communicable diseases. You know we need to make sure that they have oral health on their minds as a non-communicable disease because it has such a big impact. And it's key for your health.”

Heather sums it up perfectly paraphrasing the WHO statement. “There is no general health without oral health!”