Gum Health Day 2022 - an overview

Every year, Gum Health Day is celebrated on May 12 with the aim of raising public awareness of the causes and consequences of gum diseases – gingivitis, periodontitis, peri-implant mucositis, and peri-implantitis. For Gum Health Day 2022, prevention, early detection, and treatment are once again messages that will be conveyed to the public. But this year a new emphasis on intervention by oral-healthcare professionals has been added.

Using the slogan “Treat your gums,” the Gum Health Day 2022 campaign highlights that taking good care of one’s gums is a core part of oral health and that, when personal care at home is not enough, professional treatment at the dental practice is necessary to fight gum disease effectively. 

A major innovation this year is the "customised content generator” created by the EFP, a feature that will allow its affiliated societies, their individual members – as well as practices, hospitals and the public – to customise their own materials based on a series of templates and slogans and thereby create social-media posts or posters in various languages. 

“I’m convinced that Gum Health Day 2022 will greatly contribute to a better awareness and understanding of periodontal diseases among a number of audiences,” says Moritz Kebschull, Gum Health Day 2022 co-ordinator. “Besides, I consider that this initiative will be incomplete this year without the inclusion of the all-important EFP clinical guideline for the treatment of periodontitis,” Prof Kebschull adds.

Signing the EFP Manifesto
As part of the Gum Health Day 2022 campaign, all oral-health professionals and dental and medical organisations around the world are invited to sign the EFP Manifesto: Perio and General Health, a call to action for the prevention, early detection, and treatment of gum disease. Signatures are welcome here.

Gum Health Day
Gum Health Day is an international awareness initiative held every year on May 12, whose aim is to increase public awareness of the seriousness of gum disease, the health problems associated with it, and the importance of keeping our gums strong and healthy.

It seeks to remind people, including medical professionals and policymakers, that gum health is a key factor for overall health and well-being throughout life, and that gum disease is a relevant public-health concern because it is linked to serious conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Gum health is relatively easy to maintain and may contribute to preventing many more serious conditions and thereby to considerable savings in medical costs.

Gum Health Day 2022 is the ninth EFP-promoted annual awareness day implemented by the EFP-affiliated societies of periodontology. This initiative is now global in its reach and impact.

Every year, Gum Health Day adopts a new slogan to convey a new message to the population. “Treat your gums” is the slogan for Gum Health Day 2022. Last year, the motto was “Gum diseases are preventable”, whereas in 2020 it was “Say no to bleeding gums” and, tin 2019, “Healthy gums, beautiful smile”.