charity

Dental charity’s new website gives new opportunities to campaign for better oral health

The Oral Health Foundation has re-launched its website, with the focus on giving its supporters more opportunities to be actively involved in raising awareness of important causes.

The new online platform not only allows visitors to support all the charity’s campaigns and activities, such as National Smile Month (which is now underway for 2018), but also gives many more chance to participate in them.

The website (www.dentalhealth.org) also houses its own dedicated fundraising platform, which means that individuals and groups can create and share their own fundraising efforts and raise money for a series of charitable causes related to oral health.  

Dr Nigel Carter OBE, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation, is excited by the possibilities brought by the new website.

Dr Carter said: “For more than 45 years’ we have worked with people and organisations who are passionate about raising awareness of oral health. This new website is all about providing these supporters with a platform which will make campaigning for oral health issues easier and more effective.

“Our new home also allows you to take a more in-depth look at who we are and what we do. Our charitable activities and the causes we support sometimes go under the radar, so we are delighted to be better able to share our successes with our supporters, the ones who make it all possible.”

As part of the launch, the charity’s patient-facing information, which was accessed by more than three million visitors last year, has been adapted to make it simpler for people to find what they need.

The Oral Health Foundation has also delivered a multi-language portal, which allows users to access all their oral health information across nine other world languages.

“It has been a remarkable project and one that we hope can have a real and tangible effect on the general public’s knowledge about oral health.

“More than 600,000 words have been translated by native-language speakers to ensure patients from as many countries as possible have access to trusted oral health information. These can also be used by health professionals for non-English speaking patients, with confidence and reassurance about the quality of information.”  

Visitors can also read about the latest oral health news, take interest in a series of new blogs and read the charity’s digital magazine.

The Oral Health Foundation’s Dental Helpline will also be available for those seeking answers to their oral health questions. The free advice line is staffed by fully trained and qualified dental experts and has been a useful tool for health professionals looking to point patients in the right direction in between appointments.

The charity is also excited to announce the launch of a brand-new online shop, which makes it easier for dental teams and oral health educators to find and purchase all the products they for oral health promotion.

Director of Educational Resources at the charity, Amanda Oakey, said: “Oral health promoters and professionals see such a wide range of people throughout the course of their careers and all these people require different needs.

“That’s why we spend a great deal of time producing high quality information and oral hygiene products to health professionals for their patients and local community.

“Our new online shop features our entire catalogue of more than 500 products and is incredible easy-to-use. I urge anybody involved in promoting oral health to go online and take a look.”

The redesigned website is live now at www.dentalhealth.org.

Mission (Im)possible

Five dental business consultants are taking on their ultimate challenge, cycling almost 1,000 miles in fifteen days to raise funds for three wonderful charities – Cancer Research, Bridge2Aid and BrushUpUK. Chris Barrow, Les Jones, Sheila Scott, Simon Tucker and Ashley Latter have set themselves an ambitious target; between them they’re hoping to raise £50,000. The team has been sponsored by four industry stalwarts – Practice Plan, Dental Sky, Wesleyan and Dental Focus.

Explaining why they chose these three charities, Ashley commented, “We will all be touched in some way by cancer in our lives, so supporting the work of Cancer Research is something everyone can get behind.  We’ve also chosen two special charities within the dental sector.  Bridge2Aid does amazing work in Africa training local medical officers to carry out basic dentistry and, as a result, helps thousands of people out of pain and suffering.  BrushUpUK is a charity that believes that everyone should have the knowledge and skills to access and maintain a good standard of oral health and works with professionals within the sector to provide education and guidance to vulnerable groups in society”.

A fundraising page has been created for anyone who would like to support the challenge. 

Additionally, you may like to challenge yourself and join the five for a leg or a day of the journey. Dust off your cleats, dab on your chamois cream and join the team! There are five places available for each day. For more information, or to make a donation, visit www.fivegoforth.co.uk.

 

Sign up now for the Together Dental Monopoly Run

Teams are being invited to sign up for the first ever Together Dental Monopoly Run Challenge being held in London on Saturday 23 June.

This is the chance to play Monopoly for real by dashing around the capital’s famous streets and landmarks, scoring points along the way. The event is being jointly run by the dental charities Bridge2Aid and Dentaid as part of their Together Dental fundraising partnership.

All the teams will set off from Baker Street at 11am and will have six hours to visit as many places on the Monopoly board as possible. There are lots of bonus points to pick up for spotting extra features from the famous game and being the first team to be photographed in each location.

Teams will comprise up to six players who must work together to devise their route around the Monopoly board. The must travel on foot, on the underground or by bus and stay together with every team member appearing in each photo.

Entry is charged at £200 per team and all the money will be shared equally between Dentaid and Bridge2Aid to help them improve access to dental care around the world.

The charities are inviting practices, dental companies and others in the industry to be part of the event which is the first in a series of Together Dental fundraising initiatives.

“We are really excited about this event,” said Paul Tasman from Bridge2Aid. “It’s a first for us and it’s going to be a huge amount of fun and a brilliant day out. We’ve already had a very positive reaction and it’s going to be spectacular.”

Andy Evans from Dentaid added: “The Together Dental partnership is a fantastic opportunity for Dentaid and Bridge2Aid to fundraise together so we can help more people living in poor and remote communities around the world to access the dental care they need. We have lots of exciting events coming up and the Monopoly Run will be a great way to start them.”

To sign up for the Together Dental Monopoly Run in London on Saturday 23 June or find out more email kaysha@bridge2aid.org or call 01453 546776.

The Together Dental fundraising partnership was launched in 2017 enabling leading dental charities Bridge2Aid and Dentaid to jointly fundraise.

All proceeds from all Together Dental fundraising activities will be equally shared between both charities allowing Bridge2Aid and Dentaid to develop their projects improving oral healthcare around the world.

Together Dental fundraising activities are in addition to Bridge2Aid and Dentaid’s individual fundraising programmes.