02 AUGUST 2019

As part of this year’s National Smile Month, we joined up with Buddies™ Toothpaste to run Share a Smile.

Share a Smile was a nationwide competition that asked children and young people from all over the UK to send us colouring sheets, poems and posters about the importance of good oral health.  With an overwhelming number of entries, we are delighted to now announce the winners…

Yaqoob Qureshi - Category A (0-4) winner

The first, and youngest, winner of Share a Smile is Yaqoob Qureshi. Yaqoob, aged 4 at the time of entry, was encouraged to enter by his grandmother Nasreen. Nasreen, a dental nurse in Bedford, has always encouraged Yaqoob to look after his oral health. When she heard about the Share A Smile competition through her practice, she just knew she had to get Yaqoob involved.

Yaqoob’s entry immediately caught our eye with it’s great colours and sprinkles of glitter.

Nasreen says: “We are very proud of Yaqoob and very pleased his colouring sheet was chosen as a winner. We are keen to make sure Yaqoob maintains good oral health and that he knows about the importance of brushing his teeth.

“We read him books about the importance of looking after your teeth and we’ve got him a fun colourful toothbrush to help make brushing more fun.”

Caitlin Carey-Jones - Category B (5 - 11) poem winner

The winner of the aged 5-11 poem competition is Caitlin Carey-Jones.

Caitlin, who is seven-years-old and from Thornton in Lancashire, wrote a fantastic poem called ‘Brushing your teeth is so fun!!!!’.  It really encapsulates what National Smile Month is all about and it’s a heart is an important oral health message.

Millie Harrison - Category B (5 - 11) poster winner

Six-year-old Millie Harrison is the winner of our poster competition for those aged between 5 and 11. Millie entered through her primary school in Rochdale.  We are so impressed with her poster, which was not only colourful and eye-catching but also had a mix of textures too. Importantly, the poster also included all three key messages of National Smile Month.

Millie’s mother, Beverley, was full of praise for her daughter: “I was extremely proud of her and had the biggest smile on my face when I heard the news. She was so pleased with herself and I know she worked so hard on it.”

When asked about the importance of her children’s oral health Beverley adds: “Oral health is extremely important. We travel from Rochdale to Hyde, one hour and 45-minutes journey on the bus, every 6 months to visit our dentist. As a child I didn't have great teeth so it’s really important to me that she looks after hers.”

Rikki Myers - Category C (12+) winner

Our final winner is Rikki Myers, aged 13 from Manchester. Rikki entered the poetry competition for the 12+ category with ‘Dentist Dilemma’. Her poem describes the thoughts and feelings of someone having a check up at the dentist.

With some great rhymes and good overall presentation we think this poem is great and a very worthy winner indeed.

Rikki’s father, Benjy, says his daughter became extra careful about her oral health after having a few fillings of her own. Benjy says: “Oral health is very important for our children. Rikki is very good at looking after her teeth, she makes brushing an important part of her day. She even uses little pink plaque tablets to help her see the bits she’s missed after brushing.”

All of our winners have received four tickets to a Merlin Attraction which included Legoland, Thorpe Park, Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures… to name just a few.

Sian Ellingworth, Founder and Managing Director of Buddies, is really pleased to see so many youngsters getting involved in the competition.

Sian says: “At Buddies we were proud to be supporting National Smile Month. It’s such a great oral health campaign with positivity and good oral health at its heart. It was amazing to see so many entries from all across the country. Thank you to everyone who got involved and we hope the winners have a lovely day out with their families.”

Dr Nigel Carter, Chief Executive of the Oral Health Foundation, adds: “We are really impressed with all the wonderful entries we received for the Share a Smile competition. It has been great to see so many creative ways that children used to communicate the importance of a healthy, happy smile.

“It’s so important to get youngsters engaged in oral health and hygiene from an early age.  Taking part in National Smile Month helps children learn valuable lessons and instils good oral health habits. This makes it is much easier for them to maintain a healthy smile for life.”