National Orthodontic Week 2011

National Orthodontic Week

The British Orthodontic Society’s National Orthodontic Week takes place between 22 and 28 February 2011. The highlight of the campaign is an event at the V&A Museum of Childhood in London during half term, when the gallery is visited by over 2,000 people a day. Throughout the week you will be able to ‘Meet an Orthodontist’ and ask questions about orthodontic treatment.

The focus www.nowsmile.org for NOW 2011 will be young people and during the camapign the BOS aims to highlight the problems of dealing with protruding teeth. Two young winners of the BOS annual Against the Odds competition, who have both had to overcome seemingly insurmountable problems related to their protruding teeth, will be acting as figure heads for the campaign and it is hoped their success stories will inspire others to seek help.

A short film is being produced which features interviews with these young orthodontic patients, and other young people who have had their lives changed by orthodontic treatment, and also features interviews with orthodontists who explain the issues and benefits of orthodontic treatment. The film can be viewed at www.nowsmile.org. The site also features radio interviews about orthodontic treatment and more will be uploaded during NOW so you can continue to update.

To graphically illustrate the problems of protruding teeth the BOS has commissioned the building of two life-size Lego heads showing mouths ‘before’ and ‘after’ orthodontic treatment, and these will be unveiled at the launch and will be on display at the Museum of Childhood during NOW. A competition will be held during the event to encourage visitors to guess the number of Lego bricks it took to build both faces. The winner will be awarded a children’s sonic toothbrush – Sonicare For Kids - produced by Philips.

A survey is currently being conducted by YouGov which will canvass the public about their attitudes towards protruding teeth and should produce some interesting statistics, which will be revealed at the launch event.

Competition lovers will be drawn to the recipe challenge on the NOW website which is designed to encourage people to come up with delicious brace friendly dishes. A selection of the best will be featured as downloadable fact sheets on the NOW website and it is intended that these will form the basis for a brace-friendly recipe leaflet to be published by the BOS in the coming months. The ultimate winner of this competition will also win an adult’s Sonicare toothbrush, so it is worth logging onto the NOW website to find out how to enter.

There were a range of local NOW initiatives arranged by orthodontists throughout the country and anyone interested in finding more, or where they can get orthodontic treatment in their area, should visit www.nowsmile.org.