Dental Health Week (DHW) is the Australian Dental Association’s major oral health promotion campaign providing an opportunity for members to increase the profile of dentistry and promote oral health within their communities.
This year the theme for Dental Health Week asks all Australians to remember to “love your teeth”. As we are now learning to live with COVID, Dental Health Week is a fantastic opportunity for you to reconnect and engage with your local community about the importance of oral health, looking after your teeth and making time to visit the dentist.
Here are a just a few exciting and fun activities that you can get involved with to celebrate Dental Health Week.
Tune in to our Dental Health Week Live Forum Event
Save the date: Monday 1 August 6:30pm-8:30pm
Join our Live Forum with International Leader in Dental Public Health and Q & A panel with key stakeholders. Professor Donald Chi - The University of Sydney, 2022 Noel Martin Visiting Chair, who will officially open Dental Health Week at ADA NSW. Following Professor Chi’s keynote address, Dr Michael Jonas will moderate a discussion panel with key stakeholders to explore ADA NSW’s top advocacy themes: Better oral health for older Australians, Improved rural and Indigenous oral health outcomes, and Better oral health for low income earners. A live stream will also be available for members who are unable to attend in person.
Join our social media campaign #loveyourteeth
#loveyourteeth in a language other than English
To help reach culturally and linguistically diverse communities, we're asking members who speak a language other than English to film a short “selfie” video about one of our DHW oral health awareness topics: Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste; clean between your teeth daily using floss; eat a healthy, balanced diet and limit added sugar intake; visit the dentist regularly for check-ups. Don’t forget to introduce yourself and mention your name and the location and practice.
Once you’ve recorded your video, upload it to your social media accounts (or your practice accounts) during DHW with the hashtag #loveyourteeth, and upload your video footage here by 11 July 2022 so we can share it via our social accounts also.
It’s time to celebrate and #dotheflossdance
Record a short video of yourself, your patients, your family, or neighbours doing the floss dance (with their permission) and upload it to your social media accounts (or your practice accounts) with the hashtag # Dotheflossdance as a fun way to raise community awareness of the importance of flossing your teeth daily.
Upload your social media footage here by 11 July 2022 so that we can share via our social accounts also.
Not sure how to do the floss dance? Here is a 2-minute YouTube clip on how to do the floss dance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUz4Jcvb0tw
Connect with your local community
Host a community event in your local shopping centre, park or health centre
Organise an oral health information stall that could provide a healthy cooking demonstration, display healthy snack platters, and some giveaways like stickers, temporary tattoos, colour-ins. Dental Health Week resources are available to download at www.dentalhealthweek.com.au. Limited Colgate toothbrushes and toothpaste are available for your community event. Please complete your request form here by 11 July 2022.
Your local media
Local radio and various online media platforms will be engaged to profile Dental Health week and members are invited to contact us if they are willing to participate.
CONTACT US
If you would like to discuss your participation in these activities and/or receive further information about uploading your videos, please contact Cathryn Forsyth via email cathryn.forsyth@adansw.com.au