Explore, access and use some of our campaign information, school and children’s resources, facts sheets and information to help promote good oral health.
Digital guides for better oral health
Learn more about your oral health with these shareable digital guides.
Discover our comprehensive series of digital guides designed to improve your oral health.
Whether you’re looking to improve your brushing technique, learn about interdental cleaning, or explore tips for maintaining healthy gums, our guides cover it all. Download them today and take a step toward a brighter, healthier smile!
Healthy Mouth, Healthy You
This is our latest digital guide, created alongside the wonderful EMS.
Did you know that caring for your teeth doesn’t just give you a healthy smile? It could help improve your whole-body health, too.
Now is the perfect time to focus on how your oral health impacts your entire body.
A healthy smile isn’t just about looking good; it’s about maintaining overall health. The effectiveness of your oral hygiene can influence various conditions that affect other parts of the body – known as systemic diseases – making it essential to take care of your mouth.
Regular professional dental cleaning, along with proper dental care at home, play a crucial role in this.
Oral health and systemic disease
Taking care of your oral health is about more than your mouth.
Getting children interested in oral health
It is not always easy, but it is essential to help your little ones build healthy habits which last a lifetime.
Digital Guide to Healthy Gums
We teamed up with Corsodyl toothpaste, to give you some great tips for healthier gums.
Digital Guide to Better Brushing
It’s so simple. Twice daily toothbrushing is the most important thing you can do for your smile
Digital Guides to Dental Erosion
By learning about the effects of dental erosion, as well as how to spot and manage it, we can make healthier choices.
Infographic: Sustainable Oral Health Products
We teamed up with TePe to look at some of the most interesting stats when it comes to our toothbrushes, and what they may be doing to our planet.
Infographic: Interdental Cleaning
Are the UK’s oral health habits really something to smile about? Here’s what our research says about how British adults are caring for their smile.
Extra Guides
- Diabetes and oral health (PNG 753KB)
- Pregnancy and oral health (PNG 731KB)
- Autism and oral health (PNG 755KB)
- Mental and oral health (PNG 740KB)
- Deafness and oral health (PNG 740KB)
- Blindness and oral health (PNG 730KB)
- Sports and oral health (PNG 800KB)
Denture Adhesives Guidelines
By 2050 there are expected to be two billion people aged 60 years or older. This is more thandouble today’s figure. The older you are, the more likely you are to have lost all, or nearly all,your natural teeth.
Research shows that around the world there are almost no guidelines on the proper use of dentureadhesives by people who wear full dentures.
This means denture wearers can be left without any guidance on how best to use denture adhesives.Also, the advice on the type of adhesive to use, how to apply it, how much to use, how often to use itand how to remove it varies tremendously. Misusing or overusing adhesive may have consequences –but making the best use of it can improve quality of life, quality of diet and overall wellbeing forfull-denture wearers.
Therefore, we have developed guidelines to guide dental health care professionals, caregivers andpatients on the optimal use of denture adhesive creams. These are supported by best evidence andbased on consensus from key international experts.
Key findings
The panel explored a number of issues about denture adhesives. Here are some of the conclusions:
- Patient satisfaction has become a decisive factor for the overall success of prosthodontictreatment in full-denture wearers.
- Denture adhesives can enhance the retention of, and reduce food accumulation beneath,well-fitting complete dentures.
- Denture adhesives can be beneficial to the patient. They may enhance comfort, providepsychological satisfaction, increase confidence and thus wellbeing, while increasing retentionand stability, and improving function.
- The effectiveness of denture adhesives cannot compensate for significant denture deficiencies.
- Dental professionals should provide guidance and instructions to the patient on the correctapplication and use of the adhesive, and on removing it and cleaning the denture.
- The optimum time to advise on the use of an adhesive varies between patients. For well-fittingdentures it might occur at a review appointment, or for patients finding problems with complianceat the time of fitting or soon after.
Funding for the development of these guidelines was provided by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to the Oral Health Foundation. No editorial control, apart from ensuring compliance with legal andregulatory considerations/requirements, has been exercised by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
Summary of guidelines
The guidelines are supported by best evidence and based on consensus from key international experts.
Four key steps to optimal denture care, summarised in the below and available in full here, were concluded:
Make sure your denture is clean and dry. Put a small amount of denture adhesive cream onto it (you should only need to do this once a day).
Put the denture into your mouth and firmly close the mouth for a couple of seconds. If the adhesive cream overflows you have used too much. Remove any spare adhesive, don’t swallow it. Don’t eat or drink anything for 5 minutes.
- Before you sleep, take your denture out. Clean the denture and the inside of your mouth thoroughly to remove any adhesive.
- Ask your dentist for a regular appointment so they can check your mouth and dentures.
Resources
Guidelines for the Use of Denture Adhesives and their benefits for Oral and General Health (PDF 2MB)
Infographic: Simple steps on how to apply a Denture Adhesive (PDF 2MB)
Useful information
- Denture cleaning guidelines
- Learn more about dentures
- Find out about denture stomatitis
Acknowledgements
Funding for the development of these guidelines was provided by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to the Oral Health Foundation. No editorial control, apart from ensuring compliance with legal andregulatory considerations/requirements, has been exercised by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
Denture Care Guidelines
By 2050 there are expected to be two billion people aged 60 or older. This is more than double today’s figure. The older you are, the more likely you are to have lost all, or nearly all, your natural teeth.
This means the demand for full or partial dentures is expected to increase.
A comprehensive review of scientific and evidence-based research has found contradictory guidance and a lack of consistency in the recommendations for cleaning and maintaining dentures.
We have therefore developed global guidelines on optimal denture care, so that correct advice can be given to patients.
Key findings
The panel explored a number of issues, including; the challenges denture-wearers face, problems with current guidance and the evidence which is available. Here are some of the conclusions:
- A lack of denture cleanliness can lead to poorer oral health, as well as general health problems.
- The general cleaning habits of denture-wearers remains poor.
- People with dentures are using a variety of ways to clean their dentures. This ranges from soap and water to toothpastes, bleaches and commercial products.
- Recommendations to both dental professionals and denture wearers vary between countries and within a country, and usually rely on personal experience. Also, opinion leaders provide contradictory guidance for cleaning and maintaining dentures.
Funding for the development of these guidelines was provided by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to the Oral Health Foundation. No editorial control, apart from ensuring compliance with legal andregulatory considerations/requirements, has been exercised by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
Summary of guidelines
The guidelines are supported by best evidence and based on consensus from key international experts.
Four key steps to optimal denture care, summarised in the below graphic and available in full here, were concluded:
- Daily cleaning of the dentures using mechanical action – brushing with a toothbrush or denture brush and an effective, non-abrasive denture cleanser (no dentifrice).
- Daily soaking in a denture-cleansing solution – this seems to deliver extra chemical breakdown of the remaining plaque and some level of disinfection of the denture. Denture-cleansing solutions should only be used outside the mouth, and denture wearers should strictly follow the manufacturers’ guidelines.
- Denture wearers should not keep their dentures in the mouth overnight, unless there are specific reasons for keeping them in. This guideline is even more important for people at a higher risk of developing stomatitis and for frail or institutionalised older people. Soaking in a denture cleanser solution after mechanical cleaning seems to be beneficial for preventing denture stomatitis and the potential risk of pneumonia events in these groups of people.
- All patients who wear removable dentures should be enrolled into a regular recall and maintenance programme with their dental professional.
Resources
Denture Care Guidelines (pdf 352KB)
Denture Care Infographic (pdf 203KB)
Useful information
- Learn more about dentures
- Find out about denture stomatitis
Acknowledgements
Funding for the development of these guidelines was provided by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to the Oral Health Foundation. No editorial control, apart from ensuring compliance with legal andregulatory considerations/requirements, has been exercised by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
Our Impact Report gives you a brief overview about some of our activities and achievements in improving the oral health and wellbeing over a year.
Thank you to everybody who made last year a success, we could not do it without your support.
- Oral Health Foundation Impact Report 16/17 [View Impact Report]
Archive Impact Reports
- Oral Health Foundation Impact Report 15/16
- Oral Health Foundation Impact Report 14/15
- Oral Health Foundation Impact Report 13/14
- Oral Health Foundation Impact Report 12/13
We want to make it as easy as possible for you to get the most out of your fantastic fundraising efforts. The below materials can be freely downloaded and help you shout about your achievements and get some support too!
- Sponsorship form: Get your family, friends and colleagues to support you with a donation [download sponsorship form].
- Event poster: Print this poster, fill in your details and pin it up to give your event some extra exposure[download editable event poster].
- Social media post: Share your success online with this image card. Post it on your social media account, along with your fundraising page, which you can createhere [download Twitter | Facebook | Instagram cards].
- Donation form: If you have raised or collected moneyin person, download this form, fill in your details and send it back to us. This form will allow us to safely collect a one-off donationfrom your bank account[download donation form].
- Paying in slip: If you would like to donate to us via a cheque, complete and return this form to us, after your fundraising activity has finished. The form also allows you to tell us about any online donations from your supporters so that we can add up the total amount you have raised for us[download paying in slip].
- Payroll giving form: As an alternative to supporting us through regular direct debits, you can donate to the Oral Health Foundation through Payroll Giving. This allows you to support us with aregular donation direct from your pay and is a cheaper way of donating as it is tax free[download payroll giving form].
If there's anything else you are looking for or need, do not hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on +44 (0)1788 539792 or contact us online.
Useful links:
- Fundraising ideas
- Planning your event
- Create a fundraising page
If you are looking to take oral health messages into a classroom, or other educational settings, interactive games are a great way to engage young people about the importance of a healthy mouth. The below downloads are free for you to print and use.
Toothpaste Test: How many words can you make from the word toothpaste? [download our Toothpaste Test]
Memory Match:Sample text about Memory Match [download Memory Match].
Show Your Teeth You Care: Fill in the missing words to complete the sentences[download our Show Your Teeth You Care].
Trace the Paste:Follow five different lines and discover which letter leads to the toothpaste [download Trace the Paste].
Wordsearch: A simple wordsearch filled with dental words[download Wordsearch].
The Oral Health Foundation’s experts analyse the very latest peer-reviewed research so that we can give you the very best advice and guidance about how to look after your oral health.
Toothbrushes:The toothbrush is the most effective way to maintain good oral health so it is important to pick the correct one for your needs.Here are the factors to take into consideration when choosing a toothbrush [download 'Toothbrushes' fact sheet].
Toothpaste: A pea-sized blob of fluoride toothpaste goes a long way to protecting your teeth from decay.Learn about what is in your toothpaste and what different ingredients and formulations do[download 'Toothpaste' fact sheet].
Mouthwashes: This document explains what role mouthwash can play in your oral health routine and what the key ingredients are[download 'Mouthwashes' fact sheet].
NHS dental complaints: How to make a complaint on your NHS dental treatment [download 'NHS Dental Complaints' fact sheet].
Private dental complaints: Proceeding with a complaint against private dental services[download 'PrivateComplaints' fact sheet].
Prevention: The importance of prevention in oral health [dowload prevention advice fact sheet].
Engaging children: Get children interested in oral health[download 'Engaging Children' fact sheet].
Dental Buddy has been created by dental professionals and is completely free. The programme can be taught in the classroom or at home.
There are materials specially created for Early Years' Education (0-5 years), Key Stage One (5-7 years) and Key Stage Two (7-11 years).
These downloads are useful for dental professionals visiting schools. They are also perfect for parents and teachers - you need no background in oral health to teach Dental Buddy.
Please fill out this form to access our dental buddy resources
Policy statements
The Oral Health Foundation is an independent charity with policy steered by the organisation’s industry experts the very latest peer-reviewed research. Our policy statements take a view on a particular issue in relation to oral health.
- Oral Health Foundation on Water Fluoridation (2018): Water fluoridation is the act of adding fluoride to the supply of drinking water [view policy |download policy].
- Oral Health Foundation onDental Amalgam(2018): Dental amalgam is a liquid mercury and metal alloy mixture used to fill cavities caused by tooth decay [view policy| download policy].
- Oral Health Foundation onTooth Whitening (2018): Tooth whitening is the procedure of lightening the natural colour of your teeth without removing any of the tooth surface [view policy| download policy].
