With its first anniversary celebrated in March this year, Heart Your Smile chose the recent BDA as the venue to launch a number of new initiatives – the first of which is Innovation 360°.
Established to generate a more positive perception of dentistry both from within and outside the profession, Heart Your Smile now has hundreds of dental professionals signed up to their ‘manifesto’; the nine habits of a happy professional.
Its newest initiative, Innovation 360° has been established with the aim of providing a practical solution to the difficulties sometimes faced by practices, who have fun and fantastic ideas for oral health initiatives, but face a struggle to get their ideas off the ground. Whether it be due to lack of funds, lack of time or just because they don’t know where to start, it is an unfortunate fact that sometimes the best ideas are also the best kept secrets!
Innovation 360° provides an answer to this problem by offering practical and financial help to dental teams wanting to connect with patients in an innovative way and take dentistry beyond the boundaries of their surgery doors.
Grants of £360 are now available to support dental teams wanting to innovate in the area of oral health promotion. 50 per cent of the Grant will be provided as funds to help with up to £180 of logistical expenses and 50 per cent will be provided as a Heart Your Smile Oral Health Kit, which includes a selection of BDHF leaflets, toothbrushing charts, toothbrushes, toothpaste, stickers and badges, all designed to help motivate and educate your chosen audience.
Applications to be a part of Innovation 360° are now being accepted - all that is required is to decide:
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Who your target audience is
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Which oral health message you want to deliver
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What you will do to create a lasting impression about the importance of good oral health
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Where you will conduct your oral health promotion activity
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Why your initiative will make a difference
To qualify for an Innovation 360° Grant, simply complete an on-line application by June 30, 2013. Successful project teams will be notified by July 15, 2013 and will then have a further three months within which to complete their project. As an additional incentive, the first successful applicant will receive a Coltene Componeer Starter Kit worth over £1,000.
To download an application form or for great examples of how other practices have taken their oral health message into the community, visit www.heartyoursmile.co.uk