“Let’s Get Brushing” on World Cavity-Free Future Day 2022

On World Cavity-Free Future Day, which is marked every year on 14th October, adults and children around the globe are being encouraged to brush their teeth every day as part of an oral health regime to prevent cavities.

Using the theme, “Let’s Get Brushing”, World Cavity Free-Future Day (WCFFDay) which is an annual global event, begun in 2016 by the Alliance for a Cavity-Free Future (ACFF), aims to brings together oral and healthcare professionals as well as individuals and groups from around the world to unite in further spreading the message that cavities are preventable.

This year's campaign stresses, like the ADA’s Dental Health Week messaging this year, that it is always a good time to start new health oral care habits and that brushing is a key part of this behaviour.

While it is recognised that how-to guides are important, the stress this year will be on encouraging the type of behavioural change that is needed to motivate people to brush their teeth in the first place.

In light of the fact that 2.8 billion people, including 530 million children, globally suffer from untreated dental caries – in Australia, the ADA’s Australia's Oral Health Tracker shows 32% of adults and 27% of children aged 5-10 years fall into this category – these types of campaigns continue to be vitally important in dealing with ongoing oral health issues around the world.

For the 2022 campaign, WCFFDay has a suite of resources including a series of 10 postcards available which have a message about tooth brushing directed to either children or adults which people are invited to share via social media or which can be printed out if they're holding in-person events. A video competition that focuses on events people are staging for WCFFDay is also being held. 

According to the ACFF, there are a number of key ways for people to get involved in this year’s event:

– Use the hashtags #WCFFDay2022 and #LetsGetBrushing on social media.
– Download and share the WCFFDay 2022 postcards within your community.
– Run your own local event/activity/campaign which encourages toothbrushing.
– Share stories and your top tips to encourage toothbrushing in children and adults.
– Enter ACFF’s video competition to show what you did to celebrate World Cavity-Free Future Day 2022.

The ADA has a wealth of oral health promotion resources available at Teeth.org.au