A campaign to improve the UK's oral health in 2012 is being supported by some of the nation's best-known brands and retailers. Wrigley's Extra, Oral-B, Listerine, Steradent, Bupa, Denplan, Dencover, Lloyds Pharmacy, Aldi, Wilkinson and SleepRight are all giving their backing to National Smile Month - the UK's biggest annual campaign to improve oral health.

Despite major improvements in recent decades, millions of people in the UK are still affected by poor oral health. It is estimated that a third of all children starting school have tooth decay; three in every ten adults suffer from regular dental pain; and over four-fifths of the population have at least one filling.

More also needs to be done to improve the nation's oral health habits. It is estimated that a quarter of adults don't brush their teeth twice a day. And around a quarter of all adults say they have not visited a dentist in the past two years.

National Smile Month, which runs from 20 May to 20 June 2012, is organised by UK charity the British Dental Health Foundation and encourages everyone to follow three basic rules for great oral health throughout life:

• Brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste;

• Cut down on how often you have sugary foods and drinks;

• Visit your dentist regularly, as often as they recommend.

In 2012, the campaign is also promoting a water-saving message in partnership with Save Water Save Money and 19 water companies.

The British Dental Health Foundation's Director of Campaigns and Fundraising, Simon Howell said: "National Smile Month is a charitable campaign that needs the support of a wide range of supporters and sponsors to help improve the nation's oral health.

"This year, we have received incredible interest in National Smile Month and we would like to thank all of our sponsors for their educational grants and generous charitable support. Their involvement means millions of people in the UK will be encouraged to improve their oral health and the many benefits this brings."

Headline sponsors in 2012 include Wrigley's Extra, Oral-B and Listerine. James Fulton from Listerine said: "Listerine are proud to partner with the British Dental Health Foundation to support National Smile Month 2012. We are dedicated to improving oral hygiene in the UK and think that National Smile Month is a great way to get people thinking about the importance of a good oral hygiene routine. We look forward to working together to delivering another successful campaign this year!"

Jane Kidson, Oral-B Professional Oral Health Country Leader UK & Ireland, said: "Oral-B are delighted to be working with the British Dental Health Foundation again in their common aim to improve dental health in the UK. Oral-B applauds the Foundation for their efforts and implores dental professionals, the media and manufacturers to all do their bit to get behind the campaign and promote better oral health."

Hamish Thomson, Wrigley UK General Manager said: "We are proud to, once again, be a Platinum Sponsor of National Smile Month in 2012. Our ‘Eat, Drink, Chew' message is all about driving awareness of the dental benefits of chewing Extra sugarfree gum after eating and drinking. So we are very excited to be involved with such an important and successful event for promoting oral health in the UK."

The Dental Awards, the nation's leading dental awards event, is inviting individuals and practices across the country to enter the ‘Best National Smile Month Event' at one of the most prestigious awards ceremony on the UK dental calendar.

The winners will be announced on Friday 20 April 2012 at a black-tie dinner held at the illustrious Royal Lancaster London Hotel.

Last year's ‘Best National Smile Month' event winners Thompson and Thomas won the award for their ‘Better Late Than Never, Dentists' on Tour' campaign, beating off stiff competition from Northumberland based Guidepost Dental Practice, who were highly commended for their campaign.

Practice Manager Jane Armitage said: "The ‘Better Late Than Never, Dentist's on Tour' event was held in October and as it was so close to Mouth Cancer Action in November, we combined the two Foundation campaigns so both could benefit. We found ourselves dressed up as Courage the Cat wearing National Smile Month t-shirts running a stall filled with various competitions, raffles, and of course, information on all aspects of dental care. The response was quite breathtaking.

"It's a great honour to have won this award. National Smile Month means so much to the practice as it's a great way to spread the message of good oral health."

Preparations for the next National Smile Month campaign are already underway with a brand new look. Organisers, the British Dental Health Foundation, are giving away 10,000 ‘Smileys' - the symbol of this year's campaign - to organisations registering before 14 February 2012.

To register for your free ‘Smileys' and to find out more about National Smile Month, please visit www.smilemonth.org. To enter the awards, please contact Celine Peacock on 01689 899170 or email celine.peacock@purplems.com. Alternatively, look out for the entry forms in The Probe or download at www.dentalrepublic.com.

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The preparations for the UK’s biggest oral health campaign - National Smile Month 2012 – officially get underway today.  The new look campaign is being kick-started with a free giveaway of 10,000 ‘smileys’ – the official symbol of the 2012 campaign – and a new website.

The first 2,000 eligible organisations will be able to register online for their five free ‘smileys’ and get a sneak preview of the UK’s most successful oral health campaign which has been re-branded and overhauled for 2012.

The campaign - sponsored by Oral-B, Wrigley and Listerine – is also heading into the high street in a major way.  Aldi, Argos, Wilkinson and Lloyds Pharmacies are supporting the campaign and helping to promote the campaigns key messages for great oral health:

      Brush for two minutes twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste;

      Cut down on how often you eat sugary foods and drinks;

      Visit the dentist regularly, as often as they recommend.

The British Dental Health Foundation’s Director of Campaigns and Fundraising, Simon Howell said: “After last year’s campaign we spent a lot of time talking to health professionals, sponsors and our partners about how we could make National Smile Month even better.  As a result we’ve announced the campaign details much earlier and completely re-branded the campaign to create many more opportunities for existing, and new organisations and supporters, to help share the message of how to achieve great oral health.

“Despite retaining a serious oral health message, we’ve placed ‘fun’ at the heart of the campaign.  Our ‘smiley’ is just one of those ideas and the whole approach of this year’s campaign will make it easier to engage with the public and bring the importance of oral health to their attention.

“The ‘smileys’ are being made available on a first-come, first-serve basis for eligible organisations. We hope the whole approach of this year’s campaign will inspire many more organisations to get involved.  The campaign runs from 20 May to 20 June, so there is lots of time to plan and get involved.”

Organisations can register for their free ‘smileys’ by registering online here.