National Smile Month is an annual campaign organised by the Oral Health Foundation, aimed at raising awareness about the importance of good oral health by promoting the following four key messages:
- Brush teeth for two minutes, last thing at night and one other time during the day, with a fluoride toothpaste.
- Clean between your teeth with interdental brushes or floss, and use fluoride mouthwash every day.
- Cut down how much and how often you have sugary foods and drinks.
- Visit a dentist regularly.
(Oral Health Foundation, 2025).
National Smile Month is a fantastic initiative which over the years has helped to raise awareness, encourage good oral health habits and reduce oral health inequalities by educating communities and celebrating the importance of a healthy smile for overall well-being. This year, the event will run from 12th May to 12th June, and it serves as the ideal opportunity for dental professionals to reinforce these messages within their practices as well as in the wider community. Throughout National Smile Month, practices ca choose to participate by arranging events and activities such as school visits, oral health displays and social media campaigns.
If you are intersted in getting your practice involved in this year's National Smile Month, the first step is to engage your team and discuss possible activities that your practice can participate in. This may include offering deals on check-ups and discounts on oral hygiene products, creating social media content, providing educational materials to patients, creating an educational display or organising a visit within your community. As a dental nurse, you are in an ideal position to lead on the chosen activities, determine the resources required and help to coordinate them within the practice.
Deals within the practice
If your practice chooses to offer any discounts during National Smile Month, it is important that the wider team are in agreement and are aware of the details before this is communicated to patients. If your team chooses to discount check-ups, this will need to be communicated to patients in advance of May and June to ensure they have time to book in during this time frame. This communication could be via a promotional poster in reception, a notice on your website or a social media post. You may also want to consider including some terms and conditions to ensure patients are aware of all the details such as the timings, the total cost of the check-up with the discount and the limitations of the offer. This will ensure patients are aware that the discount does not include any treatment needed as a result of the check-up.
It is simple to discount oral hygiene products within the practice. You will want to discuss this with your practice manager to determine how much discount the practice is willing to offer. A few promotional stickers or posters can then be created to let patients know. Don’t forget to inform the entire team, including all clinicians and nurses, and most importantly, receptionists, who will be taking the payments for the discounted items. Discounts are a great initiative to increase footfall for the practice, but it is also really important to reinforce the key messages of National Smile Month at the same time.
Creating educational materials
National Smile Month is a great opportunity to raise awareness of key oral health issues through eye-catching posters, leaflets or infographics which can be placed around the practice. Consider the topics you want to provide education on (remember the four key messages for National Smile Month), and then think about your target audience. Then you can get to work on creating your display. You may want to take inspiration from other displays, which are always great at capturing patients' attention – such as the ‘think before you drink’ posters which show how much sugar is in popular drinks. Other ideas include offering tips on brushing and flossing or healthy snack ideas for children. If you include any facts or figures within your displays, be sure to research these, only use credible sources, and reference these sources.
Online campaigns
Social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are all excellent tools to help you reach a wider audience, particularly the younger generation, who are often more active online. You can help your practice create engaging and informative content. Share fun facts about oral health, give behind-the-scenes glimpses of the practice to encourage more people to visit their dentist, or provide tips for achieving a healthier smile. If your practice has an existing social media account, encourage your team to share and engage with the content to broaden its reach. You could even create short videos demonstrating proper brushing and flossing techniques or showcasing the benefits of a balanced diet for oral health. Remember not to post any content which includes patients without their permission. You can also create blogs on different oral health topics for your practice website.
Community outreach
National Smile Month provides the perfect opportunity to educate your wider community on the importance of good oral health. You may be able to arrange a talk at a local school, care home or community group. Try to keep the talk interactive, fun and engaging. You can include quizzes, games and models to demonstrate toothbrushing. Reach out to your local reps, as you may be able to get hold of some product samples to take along with you.
National Smile Month can really help to make a difference for your patients but also within the local community. The Oral Health Foundation provides ideas and resources for practices wanting to take part in National Smile Month. You can access these by visiting their website: Things to do this National Smile Month | Oral Health Foundation.
Best of luck with your chosen activities!
Written by Melanie Pomphrett MSc, RDH, PGCE
References
Oral Health Foundation, (2025). National Smile Month. Online at: https://www.dentalhealth.org/about-national-smile-month
