Revealed at the BDIA Dental Showcase in Birmingham, Miss Coles’ winning entry ‘Hooked on Oral Hygiene’ helps patients ‘hang-on’ to oral hygiene advice even after they leave the clinic. The bathroom door hanger contains personalised oral hygiene advice and motivational tips. It will be launched to dental clinics nationwide in 2016. Miss Coles, who qualified as a dental hygienist in 1988, was also awarded a grant of £750 towards her continuing professional development (CPD) and a year’s supply of Wrigley’s Extra sugar free gum for her clinic.
Michelle commented, “I often use visual aids and props to support my oral hygiene discussions in clinic, but I wanted to create something simple and appealing that helps patients remember this advice once they get home.
“The ‘Hooked on Oral Hygiene’ tool is great because it can be hooked somewhere visible, like a bathroom door, allowing patients to keep their oral hygiene advice close to hand and helping them to regularly recall this information to maintain good habits between check-ups”.
The Oral Hygiene By Design Award invited dental hygienists and those dually qualified in dental hygiene and therapy to unleash their creative talents and submit their designs for the ‘ideal’ oral hygiene instruction tool. A wide range of creative and innovative designs were reviewed by an esteemed panel of judges including Michaela ONeill (BSDHT President), Professor Francis Hughes (Professor of Periodontology at King’s College London), Julia Brewin (dental hygienist and winner of the 2014 Dr. Gerald Leatherman Award), Matthew Kent (WOHP Senior Manager) and Matt Wright (director at Matter product innovation consultancy). Miss Coles’ ‘Hooked on Oral Hygiene’ design was felt to be a simple yet powerful tool that enables the full spectrum of oral hygiene advice to be captured in one easy to use resource but that can also be personalised for individual patients’ needs.
Michaela ONeill commented, “We all recognise how patients often leave our chairs with the best of intentions to improve their oral health, but in reality these new habits are often quickly forgotten. Michelle’s ‘Hooked on Oral Hygiene’ idea really resonated with all the judges because it provides a visible reminder to patients of what they should be doing.”
The silver award goes to Jack Waddington at the Vi Dental Centre in North Humberside for his idea, the ‘Mouth House’ app that delivers oral hygiene advice as smartphone notifications. The bronze award goes to Jennifer Huntley at the Dawood and Tanner practice in London for her idea, the ‘Diet for Dental Health’ app, which allows patients to visualise their oral pH changes throughout the day. Jack Waddington and Jennifer Huntley will receive £500 and £250 financial grants towards their CPD respectively, as well as a one year’s supply of Wrigley’s Extra sugar free gum for their clinics.
Matthew Kent, senior manager of the Wrigley Oral Healthcare Programme, commented, “These winning entries were among very many innovative and imaginative ideas we received for the inaugural Oral Hygiene By Design Awards. From apps to videos, and models to leaflets, we were genuinely impressed by the diversity of ideas and the quality of entries. Wrigley is delighted to partner with the BSDHT on such a successful and innovative programme to support those in the dental hygiene and therapy profession in their day to day practice.”
WOHP partners with dental professionals in the UK and around the world to help them improve their patient’s oral health through one extra simple and enjoyable step in their daily routine: chewing sugar free gum after eating and drinking, particularly while on the go.