At the Oral Health Foundation, we believe everybody has the right to access oral healthcare and be provided with the basic education and support to achieve good oral health.

As an entirely self-funded charity, we rely on your generous support to continue our important mission of bringing better oral health to all.

Whether you are helping us by donating, fundraising, participating in our campaigns or simply help us to share the importance of a healthy mouth, you really can help make a difference. Here are just five reasons why you should support the Oral Health Foundation:

Our role in mouth cancer awareness

Every year, more than 300,000 people around the world are given the devastating news they have mouth cancer. Sadly, it is a cancer on the increase. In the UK, cases have risen by around a third in the last decade alone while the disease now claims more lives than cervical and testicular cancer combined.

Our chances of beating it are hugely dependent on spotting it early, yet far too many are unaware of the signs, symptom and risk factors.

Through our campaigns and activities, we try to raise the profile of the disease so that we can raise awareness of mouth cancer and save lives.

Improving children's oral health

In the last year, hundreds of thousand of children around the world have had rotten teeth removed in hospitals due to tooth decay. In the UK, tooth decay is the most common reason for a child to be put under general anaesthetic in hospital. Last year, there were more than 34,000 cases of under-10s receiving hospital treatment for tooth decay.

Many of these cases could be largely prevented with your help. Through the correct oral health education from an early age, providing support to parents and by making oral health a bigger priority in classrooms, we can put a stop to this.

Our campaigns, such as National Smile Month and Dental Buddy, do just this and have helped millions of children to a better oral health. It is through your support that we are able to deliver these programmes year-on-year.

Educational resources

One of the most effective ways which we can reduce the harm caused by oral diseases is to help individuals and communities understand the value of good oral health.

We continually look to improve knowledge through greater education and inspire changes in behaviour through positive learning experiences. The funding we receive helps us to provide an array of high quality information, resources and organise community programmes to promote oral health all around the world.

Every year, thousands of dental surgeries, health centres, hospitals and schools use our materials and tools so they can engage and educate people about the importance of a healthy mouth.

A self-funded charity

The Oral Health Foundation is an entirely self-funded charity, which means we do not receive a single penny from government.

Despite this, last year we invested £1.1 million in oral health promotion and education in the UK and around the world. This was largely made possible by your continued support. All of our programmes, activities, educational resources, tools and public services would simply not be possible with you.

We hope you continue to support us in our aim to reduce inequalities in oral health and help us achieve oral health for all.  

---

Useful links:

• Donate to the Oral Health Foundation

• Our appeals

• Fundraising ideas