Wrigley’s Extra® is platinum sponsor of National Smile Month for the fourth year running
24 May 2016
Children have a way of putting a smile on our face no matter what the day brings. The largest ever study of smiles – ‘The Smile Back Study’, conducted by Cambridge University in partnership with Wrigley’s Extra®, proves that children actually do possess superpowers when it comes to smiling – with adults smiling as much as 13% more in the presence of children than when in the presence of adults.
With a goal of protecting and spreading children’s infectious smiles, Wrigley’s Extra® is helping to support National Smile Month from 16th May 2016 with the The Extra® Smile Back™ Project – a new cause-related campaign, designed to educate families on the importance of good oral health. As a Platinum sponsor for National Smile Month for the fourth year running, Wrigley’s Extra® is proud to be showcasing its increased commitment to protecting smiles with a campaign that funds education at the heart of the community.
Chewing sugarfree gum is just one way to protect healthy smiles and has been proven to help protect your teeth. That’s why Extra is accredited by the Oral Health Foundation who recommends chewing sugarfree gum after meals and in between brushing to protect teeth.
So for every pack of its sugarfree gum sold, Wrigley’s Extra® will make a donation to its chosen charity partner, Action for Children, to fund children’s oral health education. It will be donating a minimum of £250,000, and this money will create the charity’s first ever oral health programme for families around the UK. A total of 690 educational sessions – endorsed by the Oral Health Foundation – will take place in children centres and family support services across the UK from August 2016 to August 2017. Over 10,000 children and 5,000 parents are set to benefit from the programme.
To highlight the importance of protecting children’s smiles, Wrigley’s Extra® has also created a captivating children’s book –The Lost Smile – in partnership with award-winning children’s author and playwright Joseph Coelho, illustrator Sheena Dempsey and charity partner Action for Children. The book, supported by dental professionals from the Oral Health Foundation, centres on the story of a little boy who can’t find his parents’ smiles and goes on a smile hunt.
To help put a smile on the face of your patients, a copy of the book will be delivered with all counter top sampling units of sugarfree gum ordered via the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme website during National Smile Month. Books will also be available for purchase via www.smileback.wrigley.co.uk with all profits from sales split equally between Action for Children and the Oral Health Foundation.
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