2024 is Here and there is no stopping it. So I figured, let’s celebrate! This post has gathered all the dental related holidays of 2024 and it includes how to celebrate with your dental practice! So I urge Dental Assistants, Hygienists, Front Office Dental Personnel and Dentists to put on their party hats and get these parties started!
National Dental Holidays
January
- The New Year – I know this isn’t dental related, BUT make sure to email your patients wishing them a wonderful new year AND remind them that better oral health should be one of their new year’s resolutions.
- Medical Group Practice Week (4th week of January) – the 4th week of January, which falls on January 22nd in 2023, is Medical Group Practice Week. A medical group is 3 or medical professionals working together to treat patients. Thus, your dental practice is a Medical Group. Treat you and your team to some yummy (but healthy) goodies.
February
- Children’s Dental Health Month – Celebrate all month long with extra goodies for your tiny patients.
- Gum Disease Awareness Month – Nobody wants to celebrate gum disease, but you should use the month of February to really bring awareness to your patients. This website has some great ideas on how you and your team can participate in Gum Disease Awareness Month.
- Toothache Day (Feb 9) – A toothache is another dental ailment nobody really wants to celebrate. But maybe use this day as an excuse to remind all our overdue patients they need to come in and see you BEFORE they get a toothache.
- Tooth Fairy Day (Feb 28) – The tooth fairy actually gets celebrated 2 times each year (Feb 28th and August 22nd). Have fun with this and let your team dress up as tooth fairies! You can also share some fun facts about the tooth fairy on your social media pages.
March
- Dental Assistants Recognition Week (1st full week of March) – The first full week of March is Dental Assistants Recognition Week (March 3rd – March 9th in 2024)! Make sure to celebrate all week long with gifts, lunches and fun events! You can also include special posts about each of your assistants on your social media. Want more ways to celebrate your Dental Assistant – read this!
- Dentist Day (March 6) – Right in the middle of Dental Assistants Recognition Week, you get to thank your Dentist for all their love and support. This year Dentist Day falls on a Wednesday, which is the perfect day to celebrate!
April
- Dental Hygienists Week – The 2nd week of April is the week we get to celebrate our Hygienists. The passion, care and education they put into our oral health is life saving and should be celebrated with lots of lunches, treats and thank yous! Ask your patients to show their appreciation by leaving a review about how great their hygienist is.
- Oral Cancer Awareness Month – Do your part by offering Oral Cancer Screenings to all your patients. Or you could hold an event where you block off 1 to 2 hours and open your practice to walk-in who would like to be screened. You can find other ways to do your part here. Make sure any event you have is marketed effectively to make them a true success.
- National Facial Protection Month – April is also National Facial Protection Month. Take this opportunity to chat with all your athlete patients about the benefits of a properly fitted mouth guard.
May
- Save Your Tooth Month – This month is all about focusing on saving natural teeth. Talk with your patients about the benefits of caring for their teeth, and make sure to give your referred Endodontist some love.
- Root Canal Day (2nd Wednesday of May) – Send your Endodontist friends some extra love today. Or even maybe have a Endo Specialist join you in your office to offer consultations to your patients who are in need of a root canal.
(May 12th in 2023). - National Smiles Month (May 13th to June 13th) – Pick a dental focused charity (like Fresh Start Surgical Gifts) and donate your time to helping those in need get a beautiful smile. Other ideas on how to celebrate can be found here. Make sure your team and your patients know the efforts you are putting into celebrating this month with your emails and social media!
June
- National Smiles Month (May 16th to June 16th) Continued – See May
- Dental Diversity Month – Dental Diversity month celebrates all the facets of oral health. It allows us to celebrate all our specialists and the importance of them. It also allows us to reflect how the cultural background of our patients can have effects on their oral health. Use this month to explain the different specialties within dentistry via email and social media. Also, work with a cultural and ethnic awareness organization in your area to offer your expertise and share how and why persons should visit the dentist.
July
No dental holidays in July. Use this month to enjoy the start of Summer!
August
- Tooth Fairy Day (Aug 22nd) – The 2nd Tooth Fairy Day is here! Get ready to bust out your costumes and have fun!
September
- Office Manager Appreciation Month – Get ready to spoil the person that keeps your office in tip top shape. Gifts and goodies are welcome! To better understand what your office manager is going through read this.
- National Gum Care Month – I know, as a dentist and dental professional you are always talking with your patients about the health of their gums. But September gives you an excuse to do it even more. Throughout the month, share tips and stats about gum health on your social media. And reward your patient with the best periodontal probing numbers with a special treat!
October
- Dental Hygiene Month – Use this month to celebrate dental hygiene. Have contests for your patients who demonstrate superior hygiene skills and make sure to thank your hygienist daily!
- World Smile Day (First Friday in October) – This isn’t necessarily a dental holiday. Rather a day focused on making yourself and others smile. But still you should celebrate all those gorgeous smiles you help create. You could have a social media contest where you ask your patients to post a picture of their smiles and have them tag your office. Make sure to pick a winner and have a great prize to give them! Here are some other ways to celebrate! World Smile Day falls on October 4th this year.
November
- TMJ Awareness Month – Send a newsletter to your patients letting them know about the symptoms of TMJ. Then offer an event where walk-ins are welcome to your office for consults.
- Mouth Cancer Action Month – November is also Mouth Cancer Awareness Month. Make sure to offer screening to every patient that visits. And maybe have an event where people can come in for free screenings (great way to bring in new patients). You can even use THIS POSTER from The Mouth Cancer Foundation, to let your community know about your event.
- Brush Day (November 1) – National Brush Day aims to reinforce children’s dental health. Throw a Brush-a-Thon event Or ask your patients to share a photo or video of them brushing their teeth. Make sure they tag your office and the following day have a drawing where you pick a winner and give them an amazing prize!
December
- Handwashing Awareness week (the first FULL week of December) – Use your platform to spread the word about the benefits of washing our hands. Make a fun video with your team, showing how to properly wash your hands and post to your social media. Here are some fun facts about Handwashing Awareness Week. Handwashing Awareness Week is from December 1st to December 7th this year.
Now, some of these holidays do seem a bit repetitive…
Oral Cancer Awareness Month AND Mouth Cancer Action Month
TWO Tooth Fairy days?!?!?!
But hey, it is all in good fun! So just go with it.
These Dental Holidays are great marketing tools. Use these days in your patient newsletters, post about them on social media, have fun contests and events for your patients and potential patients. And make sure to recognize yourself and your team during the recognition weeks and everyday.
Smiles,
Holli Perez
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