The countdown is now on for National Smile Month 2017. 

For those who are unsure what National Smile Month is, it’s the largest and longest-running UK campaign to promote good oral health. The campaign last for a whole month, so there is still lots of time for you and your practice to get involved. This year, the campaign is running from 15th May to 15th June, so put these dates in your diary. 

There are numerous post-qualification options available to dental nurses, one of which is the Oral Health Education qualification. This is a great qualification to undertake, and it can increase the value to patients of attending your practice.

In this article, I aim to provide you with information about oral health days during 2017. I have included a summary of each campaign and ways in which you, as a dental nurse, can get involved by supporting, fundraising, or promoting. I have also included details of how to find out more information in case you want to plan an event to support any of the campaigns.

A couple of years ago, my boss started looking into the idea of employing apprentice dental nurses. As we are a specialist practice which offers a high standard of training to general dental practitioners, he wanted to ensure that we were providing the same high standard of training to nurses.

After the recent claims in the press about flossing, I would guess that everyone who is reading this has been busy answering questions on the subject! For those of you who have somehow managed to avoid the news, I will provide a brief recap.