As World Oral Health Day 2015 approaches countries worldwide are preparing to celebrate in their own way. The theme is 'Smile for life'.
Planned activities in 2015 include: a media campaign on local radio stations and free dental check-ups for over 500 children in Senegal; a selfie contest under the theme 'Smile for life' in Spain; free oral health assessments and fluoride treatments for all children attending a camp in Liberia; and an attempt to achieve a world record for the most amount of voluntary dentistry done in one day in Australia.
The challenge is for National Dental Associations, Student Dental Associations and World Oral Health Day Partners to match or outdo last year's vast array of activities, which included an attempt on the World Record for the number of people brushing their teeth simultaneously.
Also this year, a new application provides participants with the means of customizing their World Oral Health Day campaign poster with pictures and other features adapted to their local, regional or national needs.
'It's wonderful to see the enthusiasm of so many different groups in the pursuit of raising oral health awareness within their communities,” said FDI President Dr Tin Chun Wong. “World Oral Health Day 2015 is set to be bigger and better than ever before, helping to spread the message of a 'Smile for life' across the globe.”
To find out if there is an activity near you or to get involved yourself, visit the World Oral Health Day website, which offers the latest news and a range of downloadable material to help celebrate a 'Smile for Life' on 20 March 2015.
WOHD is celebrated throughout the world on 20 March each year with a wide range of awareness-raising activities organised by dentists, dental students and National Dental Associations (NDAs). It offers the dental and oral health community a platform to take action and help reduce the global disease burden of oral disease.
Ninety per cent of the world's population will suffer from oral diseases in their lifetime and many of them can be avoided with increased governmental, health association and society support and funding for prevention, detection and treatment programmes.
