Oral health promotion represents a key activity of the Australian Dental Association (ADA), with its flagship campaign Dental Health Week held annually. The ADA also supports international initiatives such as World Oral Health Day (WOHD), which falls on Friday 20 March 2020.
WOHD is an initiative of FDI World Dental Federation, and is the largest global awareness campaign on oral health. In 2018, the ADA was the inaugural recipient of the FDI Media Award for Australia's Oral Health Tracker released on WOHD 2018. The Tracker is a national report card that sets out oral health improvement targets for
all Australians by the year 2025. It was created in conjunction with the Australian Health Policy Collaboration (AHPC).
This year's WOHD campaign is the final instalment of FDI's Say Ahh campaigns, following 2018's Say Ahh: Think Mouth Think Health and 2019's Say Ahh: Act on Mouth Health. This year Say Ahh: Unite for Mouth Health, encourages individuals worldwide to come together and pledge oral health as a priority, creating a global movement. You can the material you need to promote the event at FDI World Oral Health Day resources
The ADA is once again getting behind FDI's WOHD and is currently fine-tuning resources to be released for use on World Oral Health Day, for you, your staff and patients to pledge oral health as a priority in 2020 and into the
future. Be sure to keep an eye out as the ADA will actively promote this global campaign to help practices become involved.
Pledge to spread the word this World Oral Health Day through social media platforms (#uniteformouthhealth and #WOHD2020) as well as within your practice. Take photos of your staff and patients with their oral health pledges and post on social media to spark conversations and highlight the importance of oral health care. This may help demonstrate where patient priorities lie and be an effective conversation starter. Look to keep pledges simple but specific, as small changes now can lead to big progress over time.
So, what will you pledge this year on World Oral Health Day?
